She-Ra and the Crystal Gems: Legends and Lies
by TheInkredibleKaptainKaiju
Summary: Catra was never one to take defeat well. She has once again set her sights on Earth, this time with more than a few tricks up her sleeve. But with Steven, Adora, and all the Crystal Gems out of commission, it will take more than before to set things right.
1. Hostile Takeover, Part 1

She-Ra and the Crystal Gems: Legends and Lies

Chapter One: Hostile Takeover, Part 1

* * *

2 weeks ago…

When Catra had arrived with more prisoners, Shadow Weaver had thought nothing of it. The Horde was at war, after all, and prisoners were an inevitability of such a conflict. She had thought it odd, however, that all but one of these prisoners seemed to be gemstones. Why Catra would think to put gemstones in prison cells was beyond her, though she was sure her surrogate daughter had her reasons.

Before long, the pink boy had woken up, and struck up a conversation with the princess that the Horde had captured the day before. Shadow Weaver could not make out what they were saying; nor did she care. Soon, more voices joined in on the conversation. As they had to shout to be heard, Shadow Weaver had no choice but to listen to them. From what she could tell, the boy was named Lars, and the gemstones were sentient beings named after actual gems. Throughout all her years on Etheria, both on Mystacor and in the Horde, she had heard nothing of beings such as this.

Cadet Lonnie cut their conversation short, for which Shadow Weaver was grateful. She no longer had any interest in the goings-on of the Etherian populace. However, she was interested when the sound of an explosion rang out in the distance. It seemed Adora and her princess friends had come to rescue their accomplice. Shadow Weaver couldn't quite see what was going on from her cell, but it seemed somebody was working to deactivate one of the cells.

Shadow Weaver had not expected _all_ of the prison cells to deactivate at once, including her own. Numerous Horde soldiers, including Catra and Scorpia, had arrived to fight off the princesses and quell a potential prison riot. Everyone was too busy focusing on these 'Gems' to pay any attention to her. Silently, she slunk out of her cell, sneaking outside through the shadows.

As she crept slowly through the Fright Zone, her gaze was drawn skyward to Etheria's trio of magical moon. They would be in alignment soon. If she was to regain her power, that would be the perfect time to do it.

* * *

Present day…

"Our scouts have reported a small Horde squadron setting up camp near the Citadel," Angella had said. "It is one of the most ancient First Ones constructs on Etheria, built when they first arrived here. No one had ever been able to determine its purpose, or even its true nature, but one thing is certain: it is connected to the entirety of the planet. With Princess Entrapta now among the Horde's numbers, I can only assume they have set their sights on this ancient site. We have to stop them before we run into a repeat of Entrapta's last planet-wide scientific endeavor."

And so, Adora, Glimmer, and the rest of the Princess Alliance headed out to put a stop to Hordak's latest scheme. All seven of them soon arrived at the Citadel. It was truly a massive building: located in southern Etheria, the whole of the Citadel was nearly the size of the entire Fright Zone. And yet, despite the place's size and apparent importance, Adora found it odd that Light Hope had never once mentioned it to her.

"That's odd," Bow said quietly. "This place is supposed to be a First Ones ruin, but I'm only getting one signal. A pretty powerful signal, but it should be much stronger, given how important this place is supposed to be."

"About that…" said Adora. "Don't you think it's a bit weird how this Citadel place is supposed to be super old and stuff, but we're only just now hearing about it?"

"I knew about it," Glimmer said. Bow nodded in agreement. "It's been here for years. Nobody ever talks about it because nobody knows what it's for."

Frosta was peering over Bow's shoulder at his tracker-pad. "Are you sure it's calibrated properly?" she said suddenly, startling the trio. "Maybe it's scanning something wrong. Try reversing the polarity, that usually helps!"

"Frosta!" cried Bow in alarm. "I thought you were supposed to be keeping watch for the Horde."

"I was," she said. "But then I got bored, so I came over to see what you were doing. Now, about that signal…"

"It's not that, Frosta," Bow said. "This thing is working just fine. I even recalibrated it before we left. Like I said, there's only one First Ones tech signal, and it's coming from that way." Bow pointed west, just past the Citadel.

"Why would it be over there?" wondered Glimmer.

"I don't know, but that's where the Horde will be!" said Adora. "Come on, let's go get the others."

* * *

"Are you sure this thing is going to work?" asked Catra warily.

"Of course it's going to probably work!" replied Entrapta. "I didn't spend all day tinkering with it for nothing!"

The three Horde soldiers were currently standing on a hastily-constructed tower. This construct was a giant portal frame of Entrapta's design, using the power of the First Ones artifact to open a portal to Earth. Specifically, the Crystal Gems' temple.

"Why are we here again?" said Catra.

"You're the one who said you wanted to go somewhere remote. Somewhere the rest of the Horde would never figure out about our deeds-"

"I. Know. That," Catra groaned. "I mean, why are we next to this giant eyesore?"

"Oh, the Citadel," said Entrapta. "This is where I first found the Staff of Keldor. I figured it would be a good a place as any!"

Scorpia walked up a flight of stairs to their level. "Uh, I hate to interrupt," she said, "but one of our bots just went offline."

"And?" said Catra. "It probably just broke down." As Hordak had specifically refused Catra to go back to Earth, she had to do so in secret. As such, the three of them had to salvage some second-hand bots. They did their job, but they weren't exactly reliable.

"Uh, about that…" said Scorpia. "This was the last image it captured before it went dark."

Scorpia showed the two said image. It clearly showed She-Ra about to strike the camera with her sword. To her side were Sparkles and the arrow kid, and behind them were the hippie princess, the ice princess, the mermaid, and the mermaid's plus-one.

"Figures," growled Catra.

The three prepared their defenses. Their defenses, of course, being the army of shoddily-rebuilt robots they had brought with them. All twelve of them. They hadn't expected to have to fight off heavy resistance, but if this machine worked how it was supposed to, they would not need to. Because other than creating a gateway to Earth, the tower had another function:

"So, I was looking over the data I collected with my Science Bu...the Gem I brought here," Entrapta had explained before they had left. "You remember how I said they were near-identical to the Runestones?"

"Uh...okay," said Scorpia.

"Well, I looked over it a bit more, and the coding is far too similar to be a coincidence! Peridot and the Black Garnet share the exact same physical structure!"

"So, what does that mean?" asked Scorpia. She tried her best, but she really was lost here.

"It means it's not a coincidence!" she said. "Don't you see? Gems aren't _like_ First Ones tech: they _are_ First Ones tech!" Entrapta spun excitedly in her chair. "Which means, using the Staff of Keldor as power source...I just might be able to figure out a way to hack them!"

Back in the present, Catra was prepared for an all-out assault by the princesses. She was not, however, prepared for a vine to suddenly wrap itself around her ankle. With a yelp, she was pulled into the air, dangling by her leg.

"I've got her!" Perfuma shouted. "You all go stop this machine!"

As Catra reached up to cut herself free, she caught a glimpse of all the others running towards the tower's controls. Her claws sliced through the vine, and she landed on all fours, facing towards Perfuma.

"What was that you were saying about having me?" she said. Perfuma sent more vines towards her, but she nimbly dodged all of them, tackling the Plumerian princess and pinning her to the ground.

"Halt, villain!" a voice called out behind her. She turned around to see the mermaid princess' accomplice. "I won't allow an evil-doer such as yourself to bring harm to our world _or_ my friends! En guarde!" He pulled an energy saber from his coat, the blade glowing with yellow energy. He ran towards Catra, but an impact from behind stopped him dead in his tracks. He instantly collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Scorpia stood behind him, her stinger dripping with venom. "Yes! First notch on the belt!" she said. "I've been meaning to break this baby in!"

In all the excitement, Perfuma had pulled herself out of Catra's grasp. Before either her or Scorpia could react, the Force Captain was knocked off her feet by a wave of water, and Hordak's number two avoided an icicle that came within an inch of her face, embedding itself in the wall behind her.

Catra turned to see the Princess Alliance standing before her. All four of the princesses wielded their respective elements menacingly, while Bow readied his...well, bow. And in front of them all stood…

"Hey, Adora," said Catra.

"So, answer me this," said Scorpia, who was lying on the floor, soaking wet. "Where exactly did you get all that water from? We aren't even near a lake." Mermista ignored her.

"Catra!" said Adora, now in the towering form of She-Ra. "I don't know what you're planning to do with the Citadel, but we won't let you pull this off!"

"The Citadel?" said Catra. "Adora, you think too small! My plans are much bigger than this hunk of outdated architecture. Much farther away, too. Much, _much_ farther."

"Farther?" said Bow. "You don't mean...Earth?"

"You're about to find out!" said Catra. "Is the machine ready?"

Entrapta peered around the corner. "All ready!" she said, giving a thumbs-up. "Fire it up!"

"Scorpia, if you would?" said Catra.

"With pleasure!" said Scorpia. She pulled out her communicator, which had been wirelessly linked to the tower. "Eat this, Princess Alliance!" she said, dramatically pressing a button.

For the first few seconds, nothing happened other than the communicator ringing. Everyone sat in silence, waiting for something to happen.

"It's ringing," Scorpia felt the need to explain. Catra massaged her temples, silently praying something in her life could go right just once.

After far too long of waiting, someone on the other end picked up, leading Scorpia to hold a conversation in the middle of battle. "Hello? Who is this? Callix? As in, Force Captain Callix? ...Yes, this is Scorpia. ...No, actually, it's a wrong number, I meant to call Catra. What do you mean you owe Octavia a drink now?"

"Scorpia!" Catra yelled.

"Oh, right!" she said. She hung up, pressing the button a second time. This time, the tower began to whirr and hum as it came to life.

The princesses were caught off-guard. Before they could react, a blast of blue light shot up from the top of the tower, exploding like a giant firework some fifty feet in the air. The energy sparkled and rippled up there, before a beam of energy shot down from where the blast had exploded. The whole tower, and everyone in it, began to glow with a bright blue light; in a flash of light, the entire structure vanished, leaving only a growing wave of blue energy in its place.


	2. Hostile Takeover, Part 2

Chapter Two: Hostile Takeover, Part 2

* * *

Inside of the Crystal Gems' temple, the Burning Room to be exact, all was silent. Not a single soul was present to see Catra's communicator, which she had lost within the temple several days prior, suddenly turn itself on. Likewise, nobody was around to witness it start to glow and shake. A dim blue light shined from the device, illuminating the bubbled Gems above it. Cracks appeared in its side as it shook more and more violently, light shining out of them. The communicator exploded in a burst of light that consumed the entire room.

Unaware of what was happening, the hapless inhabitants of the temple were gathered by the water. It was late in the afternoon, and the sun was soon to set behind them. Lars and Sadie sat beside one another, staring out into the calm waves.

"There's a lot of things I missed out there in space," said Lars, "but I forgot how much I missed the ocean."

"Yeah," Sadie said. "Living here for so long, you take stuff like that for granted. But it really is beautiful." Lars nodded. "So...how have you been adjusting? You getting used to Earth life again?"

"Sort of," Lars replied. "It's really good to see everyone again, but sometimes I wonder what I'm supposed to do now. It's hard to just one day be a galaxy-travelling space pirate, and the next go back to work at the Big Donut. You know?"

"I can imagine," said Sadie. "It would be pretty jarring to go back to work there after I dramatically quit to start a band. Awkward, too." She laughed. "Can you imagine? 'Hello, Mr. Manager, I changed my mind, can I have my job back?'" Both Sadie and Lars shared a laugh over this.

"You know, it would be fun to work with you again," said Lars. "Mayor-I mean Mr. Dewey's a good worker, but I kind of miss you."

"Y-you miss me?" said Sadie. "But you see me every day."

"Yeah, but…" Lars blushed. "You were...good...with the donuts."

Sadie giggled. "'Good with the donuts,' huh? Eloquent as ever, I see."

Lars sighed. "It's just that none of my old friends are really the same. You're busy with band stuff, Steven's busy with Gem stuff, and Ronaldo...well, Ronaldo's also busy with Gem stuff."

Over by the Crystal Gems, Ronaldo was grilling Steven on what Etheria was like, how it was connected with the Gems, and whether or not the lizard people were the same thing as the snake people. Ever since they had gotten back, it seemed like all Ronaldo did was ask them about their journey. And only the technical aspects, at that; no questions about how they were, or how they felt. But then, that was Ronaldo for you.

"I keep thinking about the off-colors," Lars continued. "I know it's not my fault, but I can't help but feel guilty for leaving them stranded in another dimension."

"Lars, like you said, it wasn't your fault." Sadie placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "Besides, if what you said about your friends from Etheria was true, I'm sure they're in good hands." She inched slightly closer to him. "And so are you."

Lars smiled as he looked out over the horizon. "Thanks, Sadie. I really needed that." He placed his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned on his.

"We'll find a way to get them back," Sadie said. "If anyone can do it, it's Steven and the Ge-"

Sadie was interrupted as an enormous blue beam of light shot up from the temple. The air around it sparked with electricity, and wind whipped up the sand beneath them all.

Everyone was staring at the phenomenon. "Uh, Garnet?" said Steven, taking a few steps back. "Has it done that before? And if so, should I be worried?"

Garnet looked up from her future vision. "I've never seen anything like this," she said.

"What?" said Ronaldo. "You guys are supposed to be the ones who know what things are!" Despite his concern, he began recording a video of the energy pillar on his phone.

"You don't think it's Homeworld again, do you?" asked Amethyst.

"I don't know!" said Pearl. "It could be anything!"

Lars and Sadie ran over. "Steven, what's happening?" asked Sadie.

"We're trying to figure that out!" he answered.

The pillar stretched up as high as anyone could see, growing bigger and brighter every second. Just when it seemed like the beam would consume the entire town, it receded with a sudden surge of blue energy, revealing some sort of tower at the top of the hill.

"This is gettin' weird," said Amethyst.

"More so than usual?" said Lars.

Towards the top of this tower, Adora stood up, groaning. Whatever had just happened, it had pushed her out of She-Ra form. She looked around her: Glimmer and the others were lying on the ground, but Catra was nowhere to be seen. After checking to make sure her friends were okay, she looked out to where they had ended up.

Adora saw an ocean to one side of them, a field of grass to the other. She hadn't seen this part of Etheria before...unless, they weren't on Etheria anymore.

"Ugh...what happened?" said Bow, standing up. "Did we stop them?"

"I don't think so," Glimmer replied. "Adora, do you see anything?"

"Well, there's water," she said. "And sand. And grass. And...hang on...is that Steven?"

"Steven?" said Glimmer. She walked over to Adora and looked down to there she was pointing. Sure enough, down there on the beach was Steven and the Crystal Gems, along with Lars and a few of what they assumed to be Earth natives.

"So Catra really did it, then," said Adora.

"Adora, Glimmer, look out!"

The two turned around, but Bow's warning came too late. Before either could react, Catra collided with both of them, sending them careening off the edge towards the beach below.

Adora screamed as they rocketed towards the ground, but Glimmer was able to maintain her focus. Grabbing hold of her friend, she and Adora both disappeared in a puff of glitter mere moments before making contact with the sand. The pair reappeared on the ground next to the Crystal Gems.

Adora collected her bearings and stood up, brushing sand off her clothes. "Well, that's one way to start the day." She turned around to see the collection of Gems and Humans standing behind her. "Hey again!"

"Adora!" said Lars, running over to her. How are the off-colors? Are they okay? They're safe, right?"

"Don't worry about it," said Glimmer. "They're staying in Mystacor with my Aunt Castaspella, they're fine!"

Lars didn't know what either of those words meant, but as long as his crew was safe, it was good enough for him.

"Guys, what just happened?" asked Steven. "What was that light about?"

"Catra," Adora said, glaring at the tower. "I wish we could've met again at a better time, but she's at it again."

"We're sorry to bother you again," Glimmer said, "but we could really use your help again."

"Uh, Lars?" said Sadie. "Are these those friends you were telling us about?"

"Yeah, this is Adora and Glimmer," said Lars. "Guys, this is-"

"No time," said Garnet. "We'll trade introductions once the Horde is defeated. Let's go!" With that, each of the Crystal Gems summoned their weapons and rushed towards the tower, accompanied by Glimmer and Adora.

"So...what should we do?" asked Sadie.

"Nothing, I guess," said Lars. "Not much we can do, anyways. The Crystal Gems will take care of this. All we need to do is wait here." Lars hurried over to stop Ronaldo from rushing into danger. "Wait here!" he repeated.

"How am I supposed to get a good angle from back here?" he asked.

A pair of figures appeared over the hill, running towards the trio. Connie and Peridot had come to the temple, alarmed by the mysterious pillar of light. "What's going on?" asked Connie.

"Is everyone in danger?" asked Peridot.

"Apparently, Catra brought some of her friends from Etheria," said Sadie. "I don't know what either of those words mean, but the Gems seem like they're handling it."

Meanwhile, Catra and Bow were caught up in a grappling match, while Scorpia was more-or-less holding off the princesses and Sea Hawk.

"What exactly is your evil plan this time?" said Bow, having pinned Catra underneath his bow. "Does it involve the Gems?"

"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't!" answered Catra. "If I tell you, it would ruin the surprise!"

To their side, Scorpia was thrown into a pillar by one of her many assailants, dazing her.

"Careful with that!" cried Entrapta. "That's a load-bearing pillar! Also, don't do that to my friend!"

As Bow was momentarily distracted, Catra shoved him to his feet before spinning him around and dangling him off the ledge.

Catra turned to face the princesses, who were now joined by the Crystal Gems. "Well, it looks like the gang's all here!" she said. "How nice. I really missed you guys. Did you miss me?"

"Not really!" said Amethyst.

"What a shame," Catra said. "I was really looking forward to seeing you again." Garnet was about to step forward, but Catra leaned Bow further off the edge, causing Adora, now She-Ra, to hold Garnet back.

"Up-bup-bup! I wouldn't do that if I were you," Catra continued. "Unless you want to see if pretty-boy here knows how to fly."

Bow tried to fight back, but he was in too precarious a position to try too hard. If Catra's grip on his shirt waned, he'd plummet down towards the beach.

"Don't!" cried Perfuma. "Surely there has to be another way!"

"Lucky for you, there is!" Catra said. "Entrapta, how's the device look?"

"Pretty good," the purple-haired girl said. "It's a bit haphazard, but it was the best I...Oh, you meant is it ready! Yes, it should be ready any second now!"

"Good to hear," said Catra. "Now, it really was nice to see you all again, but I'm just passing through. So, goodbye, and thanks for all your help."

"What do you mean, 'our help?'" said Steven.

Before Catra could answer him, though not that she would, a tremor shook the tower, and likely all of Beach City. Catra lost her footing, causing both her and Bow to tumble off the tower's edge.

Catra was caught by Entrapta's hair before she could fall very far. Bow would have fallen all the way had Glimmer not come to his rescue She teleported directly to him as he fell, bringing him back to the tower next to everyone else.

"What was that?" asked Pearl about the quake.

As if in an answer, a horrible, inhuman shriek split the evening air. Looking down, the group saw not one, but two Gem monsters emerging from the mountain: A humanoid made of ice and a pink mantis-like creature seemed to be having a confrontation.

"Are those...corrupted Gems?" said Steven.

Sure enough, the beach around them was becoming overrun by corrupted Gem monsters. Giant beasts of all shapes, sizes, and colors were overrunning the surrounding area.

"The Burning Room!" shouted Garnet. "The Horde must have somehow set the corrupted Gems free when they arrived."

"Garnet, what do we do?" asked Pearl.

"I know what we should do," said Catra unperturbed by the growing menagerie. "Entrapta, activate the device!"

"Right!" Entrapta pulled a lever, causing the tower to emit a bluish light once again. With a deep thrumming sound, a pulse of energy came from the tower's apex, causing every Gem, corrupted or otherwise, to immediately stand still.

"What was that?" asked Connie, her sword drawn to fight off several corrupted Quartzes. "What happened? Peridot?" She turned to Peridot, but the green Gem did not respond. Underneath her visor, her eyes were now entirely white.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Bow. The Princesses all seemed to be fine, but Adora and the Gems were not. Her, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and even Steven all stood completely still, their eyes glowing white.

"What's going on?" asked Frosta. "What's wrong with them."

Catra grinned. Her plan had worked perfectly. Not only Adora, but all of the Crystal Gems were now entirely under her control. Not only that, but she now had an army of Gem monsters under her thrall. She turned to the scientist to her right.

"Entrapta...order them to attack."


	3. Losing Control

Chapter Three: Losing Control

* * *

"Peridot?" asked Connie, waving her hand in front of the Gem's face. Peridot, her eyes having become pure white, did not react in any way. The Gem monsters likewise stood completely still, the eyes of the ones that even had eyes glowing white as well.

"This isn't normal!" shouted Ronaldo. "I of all people should know!"

"Yeah, no kidding it isn't normal!" said Connie, somewhat exasperated. "Catra must have done something to them."

"But if all of these Gems are all...weird," Lars said, "are the Crystal Gems still okay?" He paused for a moment. "Is _Steven_ still okay!?"

All four of the humans turned towards the tower where the Crystal Gems and their new allies had gone. Before they could run off to join them, several corrupted Gems blocked their path.

Connie held up her sword in defence of Steven's friends. "Stay behind me!" They did so. Behind them, Peridot slowly turned her head to face them.

Things weren't looking any better in the tower. As soon as Entrapta had input a command into the terminal, the Crystal Gems had immediately turned on the princesses. It was Garnet who struck first, aiming a punch at Glimmer. In the nick of time, Frosta, decked out in ice armor, intercepted the blow.

"What's happening?" asked Perfuma. "Why are our friends acting like this?"

Catra tittered. "That's the beauty of it: they aren't your friends anymore." She attached herself to She-Ra's arm. "All of these Gems are completely under our control now. Adora, too." Even Steven seemed to be under their influence. "Looks like they're _my_ friends now…"

Catra snapped her fingers, sending the rest of the Gems into attack mode. Pearl swung her spear at Mermista, the polearm clashing against her trident. Amethyst swing her whip at Perfuma, who blocked it with a vine at the last second. Garnet and Frosta continued to brawl behind them.

Slowly, emotionlessly, Adora strolled up to Glimmer. "Adora?" said Glimmer. "Adora, you have to fight it!" Glimmer stepped back as Adora got closer. "Please, if you can hear me, Adora, fight back! Resist it! I don't want to fight you!"

Adora showed no signs of resisting Catra's control. In fact, it was as if she couldn't hear Glimmer at all. She raised her sword above her head, bringing it down where Glimmer had just stood a second ago. The princess reappeared behind her, next to Bow and Sea Hawk.

"That Catra's really gone too far this time!" declared Sea Hawk. "Bow, Glimmer, what's our move?"

"We should probably focus on destroying the tower," Bow said. "I think that, whatever Catra did here, it's based on the First Ones disc that infected Adora."

"So if we destroy this tower," Glimmer said, "it should bring them all back to normal, right?"

Before any of them could act on this goal, a shadow fell over them. They turned around to see Steven, levitating in front of the setting sun, his eyes pure white. He wore an expression of pure indifference.

Glimmer turned back to Bow. "Let's do this quick. I don't want to hurt Steven."

Steven flung his arm out to the side, summoning his shield as it passed by his gem. With his shield on his arm, he lowered his head to face directly at the trio.

"Uh-oh," Bow said.

During all of this commotion, Scorpia was simply watching on the sidelines. "Oh, man, this is amazing!" she said. "Pitting friend against friend, ally against ally! Who was it that thought of this, anyway? She must be a real genius."

"Why, thank you!" Entrapta said.

"Oh, uh, no problem," Scorpia replied. She had expected Catra to have been the mastermind behind this scheme. "So, how does this thing work?"

All four of the Gems, plus Adora, were pushing the Princess Alliance to their limits. Steven in particular was proving to be a formidable opponent, overwhelming both Bow and Sea Hawk with his unexpected strength. "Well," Entrapta said, "like I explained earlier, Gems are remarkably similar to First Ones tech, Runestones in particular, in their structure and coding. From there, it was only a matter of finding a power source, and we've got them under our spell!"

"Well, that's great," Scorpia said. "Maybe we can-Waugh!"

Scorpia had been startled by a horrifying Gem creature that had appeared behind her. It looked like a haphazard mish-mash of limbs and body parts, only just saved from being a nauseating abomination by its pastel-colored skin.

Entrapta examined this new arrival as Scorpia cowered behind her. "Fascinating!" she said. "Could this be some new variety of Gem?" She studied the monstrosity, which didn't seem to mind. "I have so many questions!"

"Hey," snapped Catra. "You can poke and prod these things as much as you want when we're done, but right now we need to focus on the princesses."

"Oh, right!" Entrapta said. "I almost forgot about that!" She input some more commands into the tower's control terminal, causing all the Gem monsters to focus their attention towards the Princess Alliance.

Glimmer and Adora, meanwhile, were locked in quite a one-sided battle. Not only was Glimmer unwilling to hurt her friend, and Adora was far more strategic now then when she had been infected before. She seemed to retain her swordfighting proficiency, rather than just flailing it around like a berserker.

Glimmer dodged and weaved between her strikes, having realized it was futile to try and reason with her. Their battle had pushed Glimmer towards the edge of the tower. Looking down, she saw countless corrupted Gems were making their way towards the tower, many of them having begun to climb the sides.

Adora swung her sword at Glimmer, who only noticed at the last second. She flung a handful of glitter into Adora's eyes, causing the warrior to stumble and drop her sword. Unfortunately, she collided with Glimmer, once again causing the two of them to fall off the edge of the tower.

Back with Connie and the others, the monsters had broken off, much to their relief. Peridot had stayed behind, and was trying to pry Connie's sword from her grip with her metal powers.

"Don't just stand there," Connie said. "One of you do something!"

"I _am_ doing something!" said Ronaldo. He was recording the struggle.

Peridot was soon tackled to the ground by Sadie, her grip on Connie's sword fading. As Sadie pinned the green Gem to the ground, Glimmer and Adora suddenly appeared out of thin air beside the group.

"Glimmer!" said Connie. "What's going on up there? What happened to everyone?"

"I'm not sure," Glimmer said, standing up. "Catra did something, and now all the Gems and Adora are all...weird."

Adora stood up, looking dazed, her eyes no longer all white. "Heeeeyyyy!" she said waving at the group.

"Oh no," Glimmer said.

"Glimmer. Glimmer, look, there's a beach. Glimmer, can we go to the beach?" Adora poked Glimmer's cheek to try and get her attention, while the latter only groaned.

"Uh...is she okay?" asked Connie.

"Oh, I'm-"

"No," said Glimmer. "She is in no way okay. She is the exact opposite." She took Adora by the arm, dragging her towards the tower. "Come on, we have to destroy that thing before-"

"Glimmer!" The voice of Perfuma rang out as the princess lowered herself to the ground from the tower with her vines, Mermista and Bow to her sides. The three of them were carried by this plantlife over to Glimmer. "We have to go, now!"

"What's wrong?" asked Glimmer. "We can take these guys, right?"

"Not all of them," said Bow, pointing towards the tower.

The structure had been completely overrun by corrupted Gems and cluster monsters, all under Catra's control, clinging to the sides like a swarm of insects. It was a wonder the structure held together under their weight.

Towards the top of the tower, Frosta leapt off, carrying Sea Hawk under her arm. She created a ramp of ice as she fell, sliding over to the rest of the group.

"Okay, this looks bad," she said. "But we can still beat 'em, right?"

"Not one-on-one," Bow said. "There's too many of them. We need to regroup, come up with a better strategy."

Lars took off running towards Beach City. "Follow me!" he shouted.

"Lars!" yelled Sadie. "Where are you going?"

"To my place!" he said. "Come on, we don't have much time!"

With no other options, the group followed Lars into the city. Catra stood overlooking the beach, the Sword of Protection slung over her shoulder.

"Leaving so soon?" she said. "But you only just got here! Entrapta, why don't you send our new pets to go play fetch?"

"And, by 'fetch,' you mean to-"

"-go after them, yes." Catra gestured towards the Crystal Gems. "These four stay here. They're too...important to waste on a simple scouting mission."

"Uh, guys?" asked Scorpia. "What's going on with this guy? Is he broken?"

Steven, despite maintaining the same emotionless air as the other Gems, looked much more haggared than the rest of them did. His body slumped low to the ground, and his breathing was heavy.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," Entrapta said. "I think he's just tired. Steven's only half-Gem, so even though he's under our control, he still has human needs that full-Gems lack. Like sleeping. And Eating. And-"

"Alright, so have him take a nap," Catra said. "We need all of our new friends to be at their best if we want to take this planet."

"Okay then!" Entrapta said. She typed some words into her keyboard. "Let's see here...Steven...Goto:sleep...input...send." Sure enough, the boy dozed off then and there, falling asleep on the tower's floor. "Nighty-night, Steven!"

* * *

…_..Steven….._

…_...….Can you hear me?..._

_...Steven...Return my staff…_

_STEVEN._


	4. Overrun

Chapter Four: Overrun

* * *

The citizens of Beach City had largely grown accustomed to weirdness at this point. When you lived next to a temple inhabited by ageless alien beings, it sort of comes with the territory. So when a pink boy ran through the streets accompanied by a girl with a large sword and what appeared to be several cosplayers or LARPers, they paid it no mind. What was cause for concern, however, was when an army of technicolor monsters began marching into the city limits.

While not quite an outright panic, the town was largely sent into a state of worry. Residents locked themselves inside their homes and businesses, hoping the Crystal Gems would arrive soon to save them. The monsters patrolled the streets, appearing to be searching for something. They paid little attention to the townspeople, though it seemed foolish to get in their way nonetheless. Before long, aside from the monsters, one would be forgiven for mistaking Beach City for a ghost town.

"Come on, it's just a little farther!" said Lars. He, Connie, Sadie, Ronaldo, Glimmer, Bow, Adora, Sea Hawk, Perfuma, Mermista, and Frosta all hurried through the streets towards Lars' home.

"Excuse me for asking, but what exactly is at your house that we need so badly?" asked Perfuma.

"I managed to hold on to the weapons I nabbed from the Horde," Lars explained. "If we can get those, it might give us a bit of an edge."

"Yeah, emphasis on 'a bit,'" said Mermista.

The party soon arrived at the Barriga residence. Lars unlocked the door, looking around inside as everyone entered behind him. "Okay, I think my parents are working late tonight," he said. "The weapons are in my room, in the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Someone go grab them, I have to write something."

Sea Hawk, Frosta, Bow, and Connie went upstairs to retrieve these weapons, while Mermista, Sadie, and Perfuma stood guard near the door. Ronaldo was blogging the whole ordeal. Glimmer tried her best to control Adora, who had turned loopy.

Lars found a pen and a piece of paper. "'Mom, Dad, if you're reading this, I'm okay,'" he wrote. "'Me and some of my…friends are in hiding from the horde of monsters in town. Don't worry about us, we'll be back soon. Whatever you do, stay somewhere safe, and don't try to look for me. Lars.'" He looked up at Ronaldo. "What do you think? Does it get the point across?"

"I guess," Ronaldo said. "Where exactly are we gonna go, though?"

"I don't know," Lars said, "but we can't stay here. With the Crystal Gems under Catra's weird mind control thingy, plus her army of monsters, there's not much we can do."

"Not to mention, no She-Ra," Glimmer added. "And Adora's all…"

Adora had slipped out of Glimmer's iron grip, and curled up on Lars' couch, covering herself completely up with a blanket. "Mmm, wake me up when it's daytime," she said.

"...that."

Upstairs, Connie and the others found Lars' room on the third try. To say it was cluttered would be an understatement.

"Okay then, let's get those weapons he was telling us about," Connie said.

"Right," said Sea Hawk. "Now, let's see…" He approached the nightstand, opening the top drawer. Inside were no weapons, but several magazines of a certain purpose. He and Connie blushed as Bow covered Frosta's eyes. "Er...not that one," he said. He closed the drawer, opening the bottom one instead.

Bow examined the weapons they found inside. "A battle-staff, a stun baton, and a weird yellow tuning fork thingy," he said. "Are we really supposed to fight back against all of those Gems with just these?"

"Of course not!" said Sea Hawk. "We have the magic of the princesses on our side! We have you, with your genius intellect and trick arrows! And we have...sword girl, with her mighty blade!"

"Uh, thanks. I guess," said Connie.

"Why, with all of us fighting side-by-side, there's no way we can-"

Sea Hawk was cut off by the sound of breaking glass coming from downstairs. At Connie's urging, the four of them rushed towards the source of the noise.

Meanwhile, Sadie was inquiring about Adora. "So...does this happen a lot?" she asked.

"More often than it should," Glimmer grumbled. She tried to pull the blanket off of Adora, who was not budging.

"So...it's hard to believe you guys are really magic," Sadie said. "I mean, there's Gem stuff, but we're pretty used to that."

"Wait, you mean you guys don't have magic?" Glimmer asked. "So, you built wheeled machined to carry you around, but you don't have any magic at all?"

"Well, _I_ didn't build them," said Sadie. "But no, we don't."

"Huh. Weird," Glimmer said.

At that exact moment, something smashed through the window, startling the both of them. A fusion mutant stood up from the floor, scanning the room with its many eyes.

"What _is_ that!?" Glimmer asked, alarmed.

"Nothing good!" said Sadie.

The creature screeched at the pair of them, a frightening, cacophonous sound. It charged towards them with its clawed hands outstretched, but was battered to the side by Glimmer's staff.

Ronaldo hurried around the corner. "What's going on?" he shouted.

Sadie simply pointed to the Gem mutant, which was getting its bearings. Another window broke on the other side of the house, signaling another intruder.

The first Gem mutant lunged once again. It pinned Sadie to the ground, attempting to bite her, though she was able to hold it back. Just then, Connie arrived, slicing through the beast, poofing it with one slash.

"Quick! Everyone out the front door!" Lars said.

Perfuma saw something approaching said door. "No! Get back, everyone!" she cried. A massive force smashed through the door. A giant corrupted Gem, eyeless, and colored orange with green splotches, stuck one of its claws through the opening, though it could not quite fit.

"Great, now we're stuck!" said Lars.

"Yeah, you are!" Everyone turned around to see that Scorpia had entered the house, presumably through the back entrance. The towering Force Captain was accompanied by several more Gem mutants, which surrounded the group. "Look at all the little princesses!" she said. "And whatever these guys are," she added, indicating the Earth natives.

"Scorpia!" said Glimmer.

"Sparkles!" said Scorpia.

"And me!" said Adora.

Then a massive brawl broke out. With at least five combatants on either side confined in such a small space, the interior of the house was wrecked quite a bit. Fists, claws, and weapons flew every which way as everyone fought with boundless ferocity.

"Lars! Catch!" shouted Bow, tossing the trio of weapons to Lars. His hands free, he was able to use his bow to fire a net arrow at Scorpia, though she quickly tore through it.

Unable to use all three weapons at once, Lars attached the staff and rod to his belt before activating the destabilizer. Lars ran over to a mutant that was right behind Ronaldo, zapping it before it could attack him.

Ronaldo turned around, unaware the monster was even there. "You're welcome," said Lars.

While the good guys seemed to have the advantage, more and more Gem monsters were pouring in through the windows. "No good," said Connie. "No matter how many we poof, there's always more." She spun about-face, slicing through a monster that was about to attack her. "We need to fall back and regroup!"

"Good idea! Everyone head for the back door!" said Sadie. She ran over to the kitchen sink, turning on the faucet. "Mermista, Frosta, your move!"

"Right!" said Mermista. She took control over the water from the sink, firing a stream of it towards Scorpia. Frosta took charge next, freezing the water to affix Scorpia's tail and one of her claws to the wall behind her.

Glimmer picked the reluctant Adora up from the couch. "Enough napping, time to leave!" she said, teleporting the two of them outside.

"Let's move, everyone!" said Sea Hawk. The group departed, exiting the house through the rear exit. Before the Gem monsters could give chase, Bow sealed the doorway with an electrified net, preventing them from being followed. At least, for now.

"Let's get going before they remember the windows," said Lars, running off again.

"And where exactly are we supposed to go?" asked Connie.

"I dunno, somewhere that's not here!" Lars said.

Back inside the house, Scorpia slowly chipped away at the ice that held her to the wall. "Aw man, Wildcat's not gonna like this…" she moaned.

* * *

_...Steven, you must return my staff..._

_...Steven..._

_Wake up!_

With a start, Steven awoke from his slumber. He was lucid for less than a second before Entrapta's machine took control again, but that was all he needed. Though he didn't know he remembered his dream, he did. He wasn't sure who was speaking to him, but the word 'Keldor' kept ringing around in his head.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Fright Zone, Hordak sat in his throne, awaiting reports on the ongoing struggle against the Princess Alliance. Neither She-Ra nor any of the princesses had been seen lately, and Entrapta and two Force Captains had been missing for a day or two. Patiently, he waited for answers.

Answers soon came in the form of Imp. The small creature flew into the room, announcing his presence with a flurry of chittering and cackling. He seated himself upon his master's lap.

"What news do you have for me, little spy?" said Hordak.

Imp opened his mouth, the voice of Catra coming out. "Above all, we can't let Hordak know about this. Come on, let's get going before somebody hears us. Entrapta, do you still have the Staff?"

A brief look of anger flashed across Hordak's face, before turning to one of satisfaction. "Treacherous as always, Catra. So much like Shadow Weaver." Hordak rose from his throne, Imp perching in his shoulder. He walked out of the room, the door shutting behind him.


	5. Legends

Chapter Five: Legends

* * *

Reluctantly, Scorpia trudged through the streets of Beach City, flanked by a small legion of corrupted Gems. She did not carry a threatening air with her, but the locals stayed inside nonetheless, locking their doors and shutting their blinds as she passed.

She looked warily up at the tower before climbing to the peak. She knew Catra would not be happy she let the princesses escape. Upon reaching the top floor, the Crystal Gems stood in a semicircle at the other end of the room. Entrapta was working at a computer with numerous screens, and the Sword of Protection was hooked up to several wires behind her.

"Oh, you're back," Entrapta said. "Hey, while you're here, can you adjust the leftmost data cable on the sword over there?"

Scorpia examined the blade, trying to determine which wire was the leftmost one. After several tries, each of them halted by a "No, not that one!" or similar from Entrapta, she finally picked the right one, shifting it slightly closer to the tip. A diagram of the sword appeared on one of the screens.

"So, what's all this for?" asked Scorpia.

"You mean the sword, or the Gems?" asked Entrapta. "Catra wanted me to figure out how She-Ra's sword worked, which I was more than happy to do, but she also wanted me to hook the tower's mainframe up to the Gems' memory units, which I was also happy to do, but now I'm a bit bogged down with work."

Catra walked into the room. "Entrapta, how are those memory scans coming along?"

Entrapta looked at her monitors. "Not good, but not altogether bad either," she said. "These ones," she gestured to a corrupted Gem, "seem to have had their memories scrambled. It's like the files have been corrupted, if that makes sense."

"So, speaking of not good…" Scorpia tried to interject.

Catra ignored her. "I don't care about the monsters, what to _their_ memories tell us?" she asked, pointing to the Crystal Gems.

"Oh, so much!" Entrapta said. "The skinny one's memories are missing some fairly large chunks, but the others are full of incredible information! I've learned more about Gemkind as a species in one day that I ever found out during our entire last excursion to this planet! Did you know that Gems are made with these giant machines that inject fluid into the ground, and they emerge after a period of incubation?"

"So, uh, changing the subject…" Scorpia tried to say.

"And what about any weaknesses?" Catra said. "What can we use to take this planet?"

"Hmm...well, with the Gems under our control, the planet's defenses should be dealt with fairly easily," said Entrapta. "The Crystal Gems have been protecting this planet for centuries, so the people here likely haven't anticipated an attack from their defenders. As long as the princesses don't interfere, everything should go smoothly."

"Catra, the princesses and the others got away." Scorpia blurted out.

After a brief pause, Catra closed her eyes and growled. "Of course they did," she said. "I don't know why I expected any different. Do you at least know where they went?"

"Uh, sure," Scorpia said. "They went, um...that...sort of...general way." She waved her claw towards the inland.

"That is the exact opposite of helpful information," Catra said. "They could have gone anywhere! Why didn't you follow them?"

Scorpia averted her gaze. "They froze me to the wall…" she said quietly.

Before Catra could accost Scorpia further, Entrapta interjected. "Wait a minute, I think I have an idea!" She began furiously typing on her keyboard. "So, looking through the Crystal Gems' memories, I found that certain locations show up on multiple occasions. For example, there's a defunct warp zone out in the ocean somewhere, a battlefield covered in strawberries, a-"

"Is this one of those stories where you trail off to nowhere in particular, or is there a point to this?" asked Catra.

"Oh, right. Anyways, I found that only Gems are capable of using warp pads, so there's really only two places they could have gone: an old metal foundry called the Forge, and a Gem birth site called a Kindergarten."

"So, you think they went to one of those two places?" said Catra.

"That is the most likely possibility," Entrapta said, nodding.

"Well then, send out the armies!" Catra said.

"Hold on a minute, Catra," said Entrapta. "I have a better idea: remember how I said only a Gem could use a warp pad?" Catra nodded. "Well, with the right equipment, I think I could figure out a way to reverse-engineer our way into the warp network! That way, we could potentially send our Gems to anywhere on the planet instantly! I just need the right parts, and…"

"Entrapta, we don't need a network of portals to-" Catra began.

"But just think of the possibilities!" Entrapta interrupted. "With the warp pads under our control, the Horde could take this planet in a matter of days! Just imagine how happy that will make Hordak!"

"Why should I care about-" Catra started to say, before cutting herself off. "You know what? Nevermind. Just...what parts do you need?"

"I brought most of my tools with me," she said, "but I still need more First Ones tech to make this work. Back in my lab, there's a First Ones energy core on my desk, could you go grab it for me really quick? It's greenish, kind of looks like a spring, you can't miss it."

"Entrapta, how can I go grab something on your desk when it's in _another dimen_-" Catra was cut off when Entrapta pressed a button on the terminal. Instantaneously, a swirling cloud of energy materialized behind Catra, which opened into a portal back to the Fright Zone.

Catra looked back and forth between Entrapta and the portal. "Oh yeah, we can do that now," Entrapta explained. "The real problem with opening a portal from Etheria was that we had no way to control it. But now that we have access to both sides, it's super simple!"

"Right," Catra said. "Keep the portal open, I'll be back in a minute." Catra stepped through the gateway and walked further into the Fright Zone.

Scorpia peered through the portal, before walking over to the far side of the room. She awkwardly stared at the Gems for a while, but they were completely unresponsive to her attempts at small talk.

"I wouldn't bother with them," Entrapta said, not looking up from her work. She was currently focusing her attention on the Sword of Protection. "They're pretty much robots now, they don't respond to outside stimuli unless I tell them to."

"Ah. Of course, how silly of me," Scorpia said, pretending she understood. She turned her attention elsewhere, and her focus was soon drawn to the Staff of Keldor. Hooked up to the tower's core, it glowed with a dim purple light, illuminating Scorpia's face as she drew closer to it. She gingerly reached out a claw to touch the relic.

Entrapta looked up for a moment, hurling herself in Scorpia's direction with her hair once she saw what she was doing. "Don't touch that!" she shouted. She pulled the startled scorpion woman away from the object.

"Sorry, sorry!" said Scorpia. "Is is dangerous?"

"No, but...at least, I don't _think_ it's dangerous. Not unless it's in the hands of a competent sorcerer, at least. But it powers the whole tower! If it's removed, not only will the Gems be set loose, but we'll be cut off from Etheria!"

"That sounds...not fun," said Scorpia. "We really should have some sort of plan B in case that does happen."

"It's on my to-do list, but I've got a lot on my plate as it is," Entrapta said. "Right now, I've got to figure out how this sword thingy works!"

Scorpia glanced at the staff again. The light coming from it, especially the crystal on its tip, seemed to become harsher. "So...what exactly is a 'Keldor?'" she asked.

"It's a guy," said Entrapta. "Apparently, he was some sort of powerful sorcerer, or something."

"Huh," said Scorpia. Entrapta had put her sword project on hold for now, and was pulling up several files on this new subject.

"I'm not normally much of a First Ones historian unless it involves their tech, but this stuff was too interesting to pass up." A handful of First Ones artwork depicting a blue-skinned man in purple robes appeared on the screen. He was holding the same staff that now powered their tower.

"Back before I joined the Horde, I looked everywhere for First Ones tech, including the Whispering Woods. This one time, I got turned around and-well, long story short, I met this nice couple in the woods who happened to be First Ones historians. They showed me some of their findings, including everything on Keldor. They're actually how I first heard about his staff, and I searched for it for a long time before I finally found it."

Scorpia examined the art. "So, that's him, huh? Nice goatee."

"The stories say that Keldor existed way, way back, even before Etheria ended up in Despondos. They don't mention him ever actually going to Etheria, though, so how his staff ended up there is beyond me."

Scorpia's eyes were locked on one picture in particular. "So, uh...what exactly is going on there?"

The image depicted Keldor standing against what seemed to be a large, skeletal being made from black smoke, two red dots shining from within its eye sockets.

"Oh, I forgot about that one," said Entrapta. "This one is thought to depict Keldor defending his people against an ancient First Ones demon. The translations are a bit skewed, but the general consensus is that it's called 'Skulltor'"

"Oh. Okay." Scorpia was making her best 'try-not-to-freak-out-but-fail-miserably' face.

"Scorpia?" Entrapta said. "There's no reason to worry. All evidence suggests that Skulltor was nothing more than a fairy tale."

"Up until a while ago, I thought She-Ra was a fairy tale, but look where we are now," Scorpia said.

"Well, legend or not, we don't have to worry about that anytime soon," said Entrapta. "Keldor is long dead by now, and even if Skulltor was real, I imagine he would be too. Now, I've got to figure out how to get this sword to work.

Scorpia examined the weapon. "So, what exactly is your goal here?" she asked.

"Catra wanted me to unlock its abilities," explained Entrapta. "She wants to be able to turn into an eight-foot-tall warrior herself, like Adora."

"So, what would that make her? Cat-Ra?" Scorpia said, giggling at her own joke. "That would be pretty cool to see, though. I wonder if-" Scorpia tapped on the sword's Runestone, and both Entrapta and herself were startled as a hologram shot out, filling the entire room.

Dozens of tiny pinpricks of light filled the room, arranged in various patterns. They seemed to rotate around each other in an endless dance.

"Oh. My. _Gosh!_" yelled Entrapta. "I don't know what you did, Scorpia, but this is incredible!" She began running around the room, looking at all of the small lights.

Scorpia tried to grab one of them. "What are these things?" she said. She glanced upwards, and noticed something. She called Entrapta over, and pointed towards the night sky. "I might be crazy, but don't these lights kinda look like those lights?"

Wordlessly, Entrapta rummaged around in a bin for her recorded. "Second incursean to Earth, day two," she said. "Things just got _interesting_."


	6. Runaways

Chapter Six: Runaways

* * *

The Princess Alliance and the Beach City humans had escaped from their Horde-controlled Gem pursuers, at least for the time being. With the entire town overrun with Gem monsters under Catra's control, there was little they could do.

With Connie taking the lead, the only place she could think of to go was somewhere she had only heard Steven mention before. Somewhere she felt they would be safe from the Horde's prying eyes.

Bow was quite impressed by their method of transportation. "What _is_ this thing?" he said in quiet awe.

"It's called a train," Connie said. "It travels along these rails, and, you know, takes people and things from place to place.

The group, led by Connie, and based on Steven's stories, had boarded a passing freight train bound for the east. Their destination, the Beta Kindergarten, would likely be a safe haven from Gem attacks.

"How does it work?" Bow asked. "Is it automated? How does it avoid crashing into other trains? How does it go where there's no track? Tell me _everything_!"

"Oh boy," Connie said. "Well, I suppose we have a while."

While Connie tried to explain the concept of fossil fuels to Bow, Ronaldo was busy live-streaming the team's journey.

"Hello out there to all my fellow believers and truth-seekers!" he said into his phone. "As you may have already guessed based on my surroundings, yes, I am indeed aboard a train! My allies in the Princess Alliance have-"

Adora appeared over his shoulder. "Hey, we're on a train!" she said. She gasped upon seeing her image in Ronaldo's phone. "It's me!" she exclaimed. She leaned down to reach for the phone, amid protests from Ronaldo.

"Ugh, Adora!" cried Glimmer. She pulled the loopy girl, who was still trying to grab the smaller version of herself, away from Ronaldo. "I thought I told you to sit still and not touch anything!"

"But I got booooored…" Adora said, as she flopped down in a pile of hay. Almost instantly, she fell asleep.

Glimmer sat down with a sigh, her hair noticeably frizzed from the exhausting work of keeping loopy Adora in check. "Hopefully she stays there for a while," she said.

Sadie, sat not far away from Glimmer, laughed lightly. "Seems like your friend there is a real handful," she said. "Is she okay?"

"She's alright, just a bit...weird," Glimmer said. "The same thing happened to her a while back. Whatever Catra did to the Gems affected her sword, and made her all like this."

"So, I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but...what's the deal with that Catra lady?" Sadie asked. "It kind of seems like you and her have some history. Is there a story there, or…?"

Glimmer groaned. "Oh, Catra's the _worst_! She and Adora used to be friends back when Adora was a member of the Horde, and now she just can't let it go! Not to mention she's so annoying!"

"The Horde...what exactly is it that they do?" she asked.

"Destroy towns, kidnap people, take any ground they can, you name it," Glimmer said. "They're the ones who killed my dad."

"Oh. I...I'm so sorry," Sadie said.

Glimmer nodded. "Thanks." The two sat still for a moment. Perfuma had begun listening to Connie's tale, both horrified yet intrigued at the concept of long-dead plants and animals being used as fuel.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Glimmer said. "About bringing our war to you guys. I know it isn't my fault, but I still wanted to say it."

"It's alright, I guess," Sadie replied. "We already had sort of a war of our own, so one more shouldn't be that much of a big deal."

"You guys have one here, too?" asked Glimmer. "Who are you fighting?"

"Homeworld," Sadie said. "I don't know a whole lot of the details, but I know Steven and the Gems are trying to stop them from colonizing Earth."

"I was abducted by Homeworld," Lars interjected. "Long story short, I died, but then Steven brought me back to life. That's why I'm pink."

"Steven can do that!?" said Glimmer.

Her outburst awoke Adora. "Huh? Where am I? What year is it?" the young woman mumbled.

"Yup," Lars answered. "I'm pretty much immortal now."

"Huh. Just like my mom," Glimmer said.

"Wait, hold on...your mom's immortal?" said Sadie.

"Queen Angella's got big ol' wings!" said Adora.

"She...does," Glimmer said, silently hoping Adora would go back to sleep. "But yeah, she's an immortal angelic being who watches over and protects all of Etheria."

"Woah," Sadie said. "Sounds like you've got some pretty big shoes to fill, huh?"

"Oh, tell me about it!" Glimmer said. "I love her, but I feel like she's always pressuring me to live up to her expectations. It's like she has this plan that she wants me to follow for her."

"I know how you feel," Sadie said. "My mom's the same way. She never really saw me as a woman, you know? It's like I stayed a kid for my whole life."

Glimmer nodded. "Sounds just like my Aunt Castaspella."

Just then, Lars let out a peal of laughter. Adora didn't know what was so funny, but laughed along with him anyways. "Y-your aunt's name is 'Castaspella!?" he sputtered out through his laughter. "Gee, I wonder what _she_ does?"

"What?" Glimmer said defensively, pouting. "Literal names are an Etherian tradition!"

"I'll bet," Lars said through his laughter. "What, did she have a brother named 'Magic Guy?'"

Glimmer suddenly became quite somber, looking down to the floor. "No. His name was Micah," she said softly.

Lars and Sadie glanced at each other. So, um...changing the subject," Sadie said, "You guys don't have trains on Etheria?"

Glimmer shook her head.

"Kinda funny, isn't it?" Sadie said. "You guys have enough magic to name people after it, but you don't have any vehicles."

Glimmer chuckled slightly. "Yeah, I guess it is funny."

"Glimmer, you gotta hear this!" Bow called. "Connie's telling us about the 'Trans-continental Railroad,' whatever that is."

"Oh boy, looks like it's story time," Glimmer said, standing up. "It was good talking to you."

"Yeah, it was," said Sadie. "Thanks."

Glimmer joined Bow and Perfuma, as well as Frosta, to listen to Connie's stories. Adora, despite not knowing what they were about, listened as well.

* * *

Navigating the Fright Zone without being seen proved to be rather simple for Catra. While her personality typically lent itself to being quite noticeable to her enemies, she found that her natural agility meant stealth came naturally to her. She was able to sneak past the guards and robots between the portal room and Entrapta's lab without issue.

She located the First Ones energy core instantly: a bright green coil-shaped object that sat right in the middle of Entrapta's workbench. She walked over and pocketed the crucial item. Just when she was about to turn to leave, a familiar voice came from the darkness behind her.

"Did you find everything you needed, Catra?"

Catra's heart skipped a beat, though she was able to maintain a facsimile of calmness. "Lord Hordak," she said, turning to face him. "Entrapta asked me to grab this for her, so I did. I'll be leaving now."

"Indeed you will," Hordak said as he stepped out of the shadows. Imp was perched on his arm, smiling smugly at Catra. "Did you truly believe you could operate beneath my notice? I know everything that goes on in the Fright Zone. You of all people should know this by now."

"Lord Hordak-" Catra began, but was cut off.

"Silence. As you have already begun, I find it would be a waste to simply abandon your incursion of Earth. I will send soldiers and machines to aid you at once."

Catra was confused. "Lord Hordak?"

* * *

"So, how did you get it to do that?" Entrapta asked.

"I dunno," replied Scorpia. "I just tapped on this little jewel thingy, and all those little bits of light just shot out of it!" She tapped the sword's Runestone to demonstrate, but no star maps were projected this time.

"Well, if we could figure out how to repeat that happening, I could-" Entrapta trailed off, noticing that Catra had walked through the portal.

"Hey, you're back!" said Scorpia. "Did you get the-" Scorpia was likewise silenced as Hordak stepped through the portal behind Catra. "Lord Hordak!" she exclaimed, lowering herself into a kneel.

Hordak examined his surroundings, taking special notice of the Gems Entrapta hat taken under her thrall. "Your work here is...commendable," he said. "I would not have expected only three to accomplish so much as you have." He tossed the energy core to Entrapta, who caught it with her hair.

"Yes!" she said. "Now I can start working on taking over the warp pads! Sorry Catra, but the sword will have to wait!" With that, she hurried off down the tower towards Steven's home.

"So, uh, Lord Hordak, sir?" Scorpia asked. "If I may, why did you change your mind about attacking Earth?"

"The Earth contains many valuable resources that will prove vital in our conquest of Etheria and beyond," Hordak explained. "The Crystal Gems proved too much of a threat to risk another invasion, but as they are now neutralized, I see no reason why the invasion should not take place." With that, he turned to leave through the portal.

"Well, that was sure nice of him, wasn't it?" said Scorpia.

"Do not mistake my machinations for mere altruism," Hordak said, glancing back through the portal at Catra. "You still acted against my orders, and correctional measures must be undertaken. As such, until the entirety of planet Earth is under Horde control, neither of you will be welcome in the Fright Zone." Hordak walked away as the portal vanished, leaving the two alone to process this.


	7. The Kindergarten

Chapter Seven: The Kindergarten

* * *

It had not been a good day for Beach City. Being overrun by corrupted Gems controlled by an evil cat lady from another dimension was one thing, but soldiers from said other dimension beginning to set up shop was on an entirely different level. The Horde completed their occupation almost immediately, filling most of the town with menacing robots and eerie green structures. The residents continued to hide in their homes, hoping that the Crystal Gems would come to save them. Meanwhile, as Hordak monitored the takeover from the peak of the tower, the Super Pal Trio worked on harnessing the warp network.

"Aaaaaaand...done!" said Entrapta. She placed the finishing touches on a device around the warp pad in Steven's house. "Now we should be able to travel anywhere on this planet we want!"

"Good," Catra said. "The only question now is where do we go?"

"Well, according to the information I've gleaned from the Crystal Gems' memories, the princesses and the others either went here, to the Forge…" On a computer screen next to the warp pad, an image of a mountain path leading into a cave appeared. "...or here, to the Prime Kindergarten." The image was replaced by one of a giant canyon dotted with strange, drilled machines.

"So, send half of the Gems to one, and the other half to the other," Catra said. "We can always bring them back afterwards, right?"

"Sounds like a plan," Entrapta said. She pressed a few buttons on her keyboard, causing two Gems, Peridot and a bulky blue one, to step onto the pad. "I'll send these two to the Forge, and the other four to the Kindergarten. Here goes nothing!"

* * *

"So, this is the place, huh?" said Frosta.

"Yup," Connie responded. Upon disembarking from the train, the group had made their way into a grey canyon, devoid of all life and filled with mysterious drilling machines.

"Man, I've heard Steven talk about this place, but I never thought it'd be so creepy…" said Lars.

"Better creepy than dangerous," said Sadie. "Still, let's come up with a plan quick so we can get out of here."

"I agree," Sea Hawk said. "This place is...quite eerie, to say the least."

"What are all those holes in the walls?" Perfuma asked.

"Places like this are where Gems come from," answered Connie. "Homeworld would travel the stars, searching for planets to colonize. When they found one, they used machines to suck the life out of the area to make new Gems. The entire planet would look like this if it hadn't been for Steven's mom."

"How horrible!" cried Perfuma. "Perhaps Etheria being trapped in Despondos is a _good_ thing…"

"I would just like to point out," Ronaldo said, "that I figured out Homeworld's plans before anyone else."

"Congrats," Connie said. "Anyways, what are we going to do to take back Beach City?"

The group sat down on some rocks. "Hard to say," Glimmer said. "Now that the Horde controls all those Gems, we don't stand much of a chance on our own."

"We'll figure something out," Bow said. "If the Princess Alliance is good at anything, it's making a comeback when the odds are against us, and I'll bet the same is true for the Crystal Gems!"

"Yeah!" said Lars. "We won't let those Horde bozos take over our town! It's like Steven said: the odds are against us, but we won't have to do it alone!"

"Still, shouldn't we come up with a plan first?" asked Frosta. "It seems a bit...I dunno, irresponsible to just run in without deciding on a plan of attack."

"You want a plan?" said Glimmer. "Here's our plan: we sneak past their defenses, make our way up that tower, and free the Gems from their mind control! Then it's just a matter of beating them up and going home."

"Well, that's kind of like a plan…" Bow said. "It would be nice if Adora wasn't so weird right now, she usually came up with the best plans."

"Speaking of which, where did she go?" said Glimmer. "Adora? Adora, get back here!"

Adora had wandered off during the brainstorming session, and was now investigating a flat blue disc embedded into the ground a short walk away. She began poking at it curiously.

"Adora, don't touch that!" said Glimmer. "You don't know what that is, it could do something bad!"

Just as Adora brought her face closer to the object, the warp pad was suddenly illuminated by a bright white light, startling her and making her fall backwards. When the light cleared, the forms of Steven and Garnet stood upon the pad, eyes glowing white.

"Er, speaking of something bad…" said Sea Hawk.

The fusion and the half-Gem slowly stepped off of the platform towards their foes. They summoned their gauntlets and shield, respectively, and took on a combat stance.

Connie drew her sword. "Steven, Garnet, I don't want to fight you, but-"

"It's no good," said Glimmer. "They're mind-controlled now, they won't listen to anyone."

"I bet they'll listen to my _fists_!" said Frosta, creating a set of gauntlets out of ice around her hands.

Just as the team was getting ready to do battle, the warp pad was activated once more. This time, Pearl and Amethyst stepped out, their weapons already summoned.

"Okay, so there's two more," said Bow. "We can handle two more, right guys?"

The warp pad activated again. This time it contained a handful of fusion mutants. Again: some corrupted Quartzes. Again: even more Gem monsters. And again, and again, and again.

"That is a _lot_ of colorful people," Adora slurred.

"_Now_ what do we do?" said Ronaldo. "How are we expected to be able to get out of this one alive?"

"Don't worry. I came prepared!" said Lars. He took the Horde weapons he had brought with him off of his belt, handing one to Sadie and one to Ronaldo, keeping one for himself. "Now we can win!"

Sadie was able to figure out her battle-staff fairly quickly, but Ronaldo fiddled with his stun baton, trying to figure out how to turn it on. "What is that you have?" he asked Lars.

"Oh, this?" Lars said. "It's a Gem destabilizer. It basically makes Gems retreat into their gemstone. 'Poofing,' as Steven calls it."

Ronaldo held out the stun baton. "I want that one. We'll trade, I need that one."

Lars turned to face him. "Wait, wha-"

"Lars, you're an immortal space pirate now!" Ronaldo said. "I write blogs about aliens all day! I need all the help I can get!"

Reluctantly, Lars traded weapons with Ronaldo, who figured out the destabilizer fairly quickly. Meanwhile, the Gems were surrounding the ragtag team, waiting for the moment to strike. The group was ready themselves, waiting for their attackers to strike. The two were locked in a tense stalemate.

"Okay, nobody make any sudden movements," said Bow. "If we work this right, we may be able to-"

At that exact moment, one of the fusion mutants was poofed by an icicle being shot into it. Everyone turned to see Frosta with her hand outstretched. "Um...did that count as a sudden movement?" she asked.

The Gems launched their attack. Those of them that were not corrupted lunged at the group, followed by the monsters. Glimmer teleported out of harm's way as Bow let an arrow loose, followed by Mermista spearing a monster with her trident. The humans of Earth fought as well: Connie and Sadie were experts with their sword and staff, Lars kept his distance, pelting the foes with energy blasts from a distance, and Ronaldo, though new to combat, scored some excellent hits with his Gem destabilizer.

"Sea Hawk, you take care of Adora!" said Glimmer, beating a corrupted Gem with her staff.

Sea Hawk sliced through a cluster mutant with his energy saber. "Right away!" he shouted. He ran past some of the monsters to Adora, who was currently wrapped up in Amethyst's whip.

"Um, I don't know if you guys know who I am, but I'm She-Ra," Adora said woozily. "You're lucky I don't have my sword right now, or I'd knock you into last week."

"Adora!" cried Sea Hawk. He ducked under a corrupted Gem before slicing through Amethyst's whip to free her. "Stay away from her, you fiend! Just to be clear, that was directed at your brainwashed self! I'm sure that normally, you're quite a-" Sea Hawk was unable to finish his sentence, as Amethyst swung her whip at him. He dodged at the last second, and Mermista knocked Amethyst back with a blast of water.

Meanwhile, Sadie and Lars fought back-to-back, fending off their attackers. Pearl leapt towards them, only to be intercepted by a net arrow from Bow.

The battle continued for some time. Just when it seemed like the new allies were winning, Lars noticed something odd in the sky above them. He pointed it out to Sadie, saying "Is it just me, or is that…"

It was only Connie that recognized the figure.

"Lapis?"


	8. Torrent

Chapter Eight: Torrent

* * *

The ethereal form of Lapis Lazuli levitated over the combatants. The battle had largely paused with the arrival of this new entity. Slowly, she angled her head down to look at her opponents, revealing her eyes to be glowing a bright white.

Ronaldo took a few steps back. "That probably isn't a good thing…" he said.

Indeed it wasn't. Lapis slowly lowered herself closer to the ground, though still hung a good few meters above it. As she outstretched her arms, a faint rumbling shook the ground.

"I take it we should run now?" Glimmer asked Connie.

"Running won't do us much good," Connie said darkly. "Get to higher ground, and hold on to something!"

The rumbling grew to worrying levels. As the ground shook, movement could be seen down the length of the canyon. An enormous wall of water came rushing towards the group.

"Get to cover!" shouted Lars. Glimmer teleported herself and Adora to the top of the canyon, while Frosta created an ice barrier to shield herself, Connie, and Sea Hawk. Perfuma pulled herself and Ronaldo up to an injector on the canyon wall. Lars and Sadie took refuge in the holes created by Quartz soldiers. The water grew closer, and Bow was still in harm's way.

"Bow!" Glimmer teleported down to him with the intent of bringing him to safety, but instead collapsed once she reached solid ground.

"Glimmer, what's wrong!?" Bow asked his friend.

"I don't know," said Glimmer. "I think...I think I'm running out of power."

It seemed too late, as the gigantic wave was upon them. Both Bow and Glimmer braced for impact, but the water was stopped in its tracks. The pair looked up to see Mermista, holding back the advancing wave.

"Get going!" she said. "I'm not sure how long I can hold this!"

Up in the air, Lapis was struggling against Mermista's hold. The blue Gem clenched her fists, forcing the water forward. Mermista's heels dug into the dirt as she was pushed back.

A vine lowered down next to Bow and Glimmer. "Grab hold!" shouted Perfuma. Both grabbed on and were pulled up to safety. Just in time, too, as Lapis seemed to be winning the proverbial tug-of-war.

Knowing her hold over the torrent was about to give, Mermista used what little grasp she still had to send the stream into two halves to her sides. The water rushed past her with furious force, and the kindergarten was soon flooded. Mermista assumed her mermaid form to better navigate the torrential waters.

Frosta, Connie, and Sea Hawk floated to the surface atop a raft of ice. They were soon joined by Lars and Sadie, who climbed aboard the miniature glacier. They were not the only ones to rise to the surface, however. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven leapt up from beneath the waves, landing above the canyon. Their gaze was coldly focused on the heroes.

"Back for a rematch, eh?" said Sea Hawk. "Very well, then. Have at you!"

Lapis waved her arms, causing the still water to become rough like a stormy sea. Everyone held on as their raft began to rock violently.

The injector that Perfuma and the others stood on was just barely above the water level. "We've got to do something!" said Bow.

"If you have any ideas, I'm all ears," said Ronaldo. He was bracing himself against the injector so as not to slip off of its moistened surface.

"We'll just have to go all-out!" Perfuma said. "Follow my lead!" She charged forward towards the Gems; as her feet touched the water, lily pads were created to support her weight.

"She does know we can't do that, too, right?" said Glimmer.

"Maybe so, but I'm going over there to help," Bow said. "Do you have any teleports left?"

"If I do, I shouldn't waste them," Glimmer said. "You go on ahead, I'll stay here with him," indicating Ronaldo. Bow nodded, before jumping into the water and swimming towards the fray.

"Hey, I can be useful, too!" said Ronaldo. He stuck the Gem destabilizer into the water, expecting it to conduct like electricity; nothing happened. "That didn't go as I was expecting," he said.

Suddenly, a figure slammed down onto the injector from above: it was Steven. He raised his head to meet Glimmer's gaze, his eyes still glowing white. A shield appeared on his arm.

"Here we go again," she said, materializing her staff.

On the other side of the divide, Garnet was terrorizing the ones on the ice raft. Frosta was fighting as hard as she could, but her ice fists could only do so much against the fusion's gauntlets. Connie fought by her side as well, but it made little difference: Garnet was just too strong.

Garnet suddenly drove her fist down on the ice, breaking it into numerous pieces. Everyone lost their balance and fell into the thrashing waves. Frosta created another platform beneath her, but it seemed the others would get washed away.

Fortunately, Perfuma extended a vine to Connie, preventing her from being washed away. Likewise, Mermista created a small cup in the water to catch Sea Hawk.

Bow climbed onto one of the pieces of ice and threw an arrow to Lars and Sadie. "Here, use this!" he shouted.

Lars caught the arrow. "Uh, okay, what an I supposed to do w-" The tip of the arrow burst, releasing a flurry of foam that quickly solidified. Lars was covered in the foam, which seemed to be buoyant, turning him into a makeshift float. "Uh...thanks, I guess," he said, as Sadie climbed aboard.

"Right," said Bow. "Now I just have to deal with-" He turned around, expecting to see Garnet, but instead saw Pearl. The Gem was holding her weapon, standing atop the waves as if it was a solid surface.

Bow nocked an arrow. "Okay, that works too." He fired the projectile, with Pearl dodging it be leaning to the side. Bow fired several more, each one sidestepped as Pearl walked closer.

"Sadie, help me aim!" Lars said. His hand still held the stun baton, though the foam made it difficult to move his arm.

"Got it," she replied. She paddled in the water to move the pair of them so to face Lars' weapon at Pearl. "Now!"

Lars fired the weapon. The bolt of green energy sailed towards its target, only to be dodged by Pearl. This caused her to focus her attention towards the two for a moment, during which Bow fired another arrow.

Rather than dodge this one, Pearl caught the arrow in her hand. She turned to face Bow, when a net burst out of the arrow's tip. Entangled in this trap, Pearl lost her balance and fell into the water.

Adora looked down at the chaos from the relative safety of the clifftops. She was blissfully unaware, as the fighting went on beneath her, that Amethyst was approaching.

It was Sea Hawk who noticed this. "The small purple woman is going after Adora again! Mermista, get me up there, quick!"

"You got it," she said. Sea Hawk was carried up to the top of a cliff by a pillar of water, landing between Amethyst and Adora.

"You haven't bested me yet, fiend!" he said, brandishing his blade. Amethyst drew her whip in response. "I shall not allow you to bring harm to Adora!"

Sea Hawk tried his best, but it wasn't long before Amethyst had completely bound him in her whip.

"Okay, you've made quite a point," he said. "Nevertheless, I have yet to be officially bested.

Before Amethyst could follow up, Adora suddenly appeared, nudging the Gem aside. "Hey, Sea Hawk, when did you get here? Who's your friend?"

Amethyst turned to deal with Adora, leaving Sea Hawk unattended. He used his sword to quietly cut through his bindings, and approach Amethyst unseen. Before the Gem could react, Sea Hawk sent her down into the waters below.

"Yay, Sea Hawk, you did it!" cried Adora, nearly tackling him in a high-speed hug.

"I certainly did, Adora the She-Ra," said Sea Hawk, slightly taken aback. "No need to thank me. At least, not so aggressively."

Lapis was beginning to take notice that the other Gems were beginning to lose this fight. She threw her arms out to the side, making the waters choppier and more violent than ever.

The battle between Frosta and Garnet became even more one-sided with the addition of this hazard. Frosta stumbled as the ice beneath her was tossed by the waves, a problem that Garnet seemed to lack. Frosta sent a punch at Garnet, who caught it with her hand. Frosta tried the same thing with her other hand, only for that one to be caught as well.

The young princess was saved as a vine wrapped itself around Garnet's arm, followed by another, and another. Perfuma, stood atop an oversized lily pad beside Connie, had sent the entangling plants at her.

"A-ha!" Perfuma shouted. "Something about this place has prevented me from creating my plants, but we don't have to worry about that in the water! I'll hold her for you, Frosta!"

Unfortunately, she couldn't hold her for long, with Garnet yanking on the vines, causing the lily pad to be pulled towards her. Luckily for them, Connie had anticipated this.

Connie leapt forwards with her sword extended, propelled by the force of the lily pad. Her momentum caused her to be driven right into Garnet, her sword cleaving cleanly through the Gem.

Garnet was split in half, though not in the way Perfuma of Frosta were expecting. From either side of Garnet formed two smaller Gems, one red and bulky, the other blue and ornate, both of whom fell into the water. "Er...did she just become two smaller Gems?" asked Perfuma.

Meanwhile, Glimmer and Steven battled on top of the injector as Ronaldo watched, knowing the destabilizer wouldn't affect him. To Glimmer's surprise, Steven was winning; he was much stronger than she had anticipated, her blows glancing off of his shield like it was nothing.

With Lapis kicking up the waves, the water began to take a toll on the injector. The ancient metal creaked and groaned, mere minutes away from giving way. This caused Glimmer to lose her balance and fall, nearly slipping off the injector. Steven approached her, ready to send her into the depths.

Ronaldo grabbed on to Steven from behind. "Steven, wait, don't do this!" he said. "Don't be a puppet of the state! You can't let them control you like this!"

Steven did not take Ronaldo's words to heart, instead throwing him off of the injector into the water below.

Before he could either sink or drift off, Ronaldo was caught by an invisible force in the waves. He was brought to the surface, where he was greeted by the sight of Mermista. "Sheesh, what am I, a lifeguard?" she said.

Ronaldo realized he was still holding on to the destabilizer. He looked at Lapis above him, then at the other fighters, then at Steven and Glimmer, then at Lapis again. "Mermaid lady!" he said. "You have to throw me up there!"

"Uh, what?" Mermista said.

"Trust me, it's gonna work!" he said, holding up the destabilizer.

"Okay, if you're sure," she said. Some water wrapped around Ronaldo's torso.

"This is gonna be so anime," Ronaldo said to himself.

A powerful jet of water propelled him out of the makeshift lake, directly towards Lapis. The blue Gem turned her head just in time to see Ronaldo coming right for her, Gem destabilizer outstretched. She had no time to react: Ronaldo jabbed with the device, sending the yellow energy into her form, causing her to disappear into a puff of smoke. Her gemstone fell to the water below, as did Ronaldo/

"I didn't think this far ahead!" he shouted as he plummeted. He braced himself for the inevitable collision, but he found he was saved when his body slid down a ramp of ice onto a platform likewise made of the frozen water.

Frosta looked down at him. "That. Was. _Epic_." she said.

Ronaldo gave a thumbs-up. "So was catching me."

The team had little time to celebrate their victory, as without Lapis, the water began to recede. The lake flowed down the canyon in both directions, taking the ice raft along with it.

The force of this water caused the injector holding Glimmer and Steven to detach from the wall. "Glimmer! Jump!" called Bow. Glimmer leapt from her position, teleporting over to the raft. She did not have enough energy to make it all the way there, however, and only just managed to grab the edge. She was pulled up by Bow.

"Not to put a damper on things," said Sea Hawk, "but our friends don't appear to have given up just yet."'

Indeed, Steven rode on the injector just behind the group. He threw his shield like a discus, which was deflected by Glimmer with her staff.

As the injector drew closer, Adora leaned closer to Steven. "Hey, I remember you!" she said. "You were there with that big sword! Or was that the other guy?"

Connie had an idea. "Get ready to catch him," she said to Perfuma. While Steven (or rather, Catra controlling Steven) was distracted by Adora, Connie attacked from the side. "Sorry about this, Steven!" she said, striking him with the butt of her sword. Steven was knocked off the injector by the impact, with Perfuma catching him in a bed of water lilies.

"Huh. Nice teamwork," said Sadie.

Perfuma, however, was looking down at her hands. "That was supposed to be one big lily," she said.

* * *

After the water had cleared, and the Gems had gotten their bearings, there was no sign of the Princess Alliance.

Catra slammed her fist down on the console. "Are you seriously telling me they got away _again_!?" she shouted.

"Ooh, that's a hater," said Scorpia.

"I'm afraid so," Entrapta said. "I could send them out to search, but-"

"No, bring them back," Catra said. "Did you see what what was happening out there?"

"Uh, I saw a lot of water," said Scorpia.

"The princesses are running out of power," Catra said. "And if they're powerless...they're defenseless. Keep the Gems here. Either the princesses stay out of our way, or they come here, and hand themselves to us on a silver platter."


	9. Visions

Chapter Nine: Visions

* * *

The group had found a place a few miles away from the Kindergarten to bed down for the night. While Connie and Sea Hawk got a fire going, Glimmer lamented their current situation.

"We're running out of time," she said, lying down on her back. "Our powers are almost gone, Catra's got an entire army of Gems, and we've got no way to get back to Etheria. Plus, it won't be much longer until Catra gets the rest of the Horde involved."

"Cheer up, Glimmer," said Bow, sitting next to his friend. "We've gotten through worse before. Besides, we still have the rest of the Princess Alliance! I'm sure Queen Angella is trying to find us right now!"

Glimmer sighed. "I suppose. Mom's probably looking, but she'll have no idea where we-" Glimmer suddenly sat up. "Oh no, I completely forgot about her! We've been gone for a whole day, and we completely disappeared! She's gotta be so worried!" She placed her head in her hands. "If the Horde doesn't kill me, she will once I get back…"

"All the more reason for us to come up with a plan to fix this mess," said Sadie. "We'll think of something in the morning, but right now, we should rest."

Over to the side, Perfuma was trying to create flowers. Frosta was watching her efforts. "How's it coming?" the small girl asked.

"Not well, unfortunately," replied Perfuma. "I'm afraid I don't have much magic left in me."

"Me either," Frosta said. "We should probably save it for when we really need it."

"And...we have fire!" said Sea Hawk, having lit the campfire. Warmth spread across the princesses and their allies as the bright flames flickered.

"I knew that wilderness training would pay off eventually," said Connie. "Still, it would have been easier if we had some sort of fire princess on our side…"

When morning came, the adventurers would regroup, and plan their attack on the Horde. But for now, they would conserve their strength for the coming battle.

* * *

"Such a primitive people," Hordak observed from atop the tower. "Why a rebellion would break out among the Gems over this planet is beyond me." Imp, perched on his master's shoulder, seemed to agree.

"It's a real mystery, isn't it?" said Entrapta, who was nearby. She had reopened her investigation into the workings of the Sword of Protection. "Let's see, maybe I could-Scorpia, would you please stop messing around with the Gems?"

"But they're so _cute_!" Scorpia said. She was currently holding both Ruby and Sapphire, one under each arm. "Look how tiny they are!"

"I have noticed large women becoming smaller seems to be a recurring theme among First Ones tech," Entrapta said. "I wonder if it's connected with their mythology somehow?"

Hordak approached. "Entrapta, have you discovered more about the sword's functions yet?"

"Funny you should ask," she answered. "Just recently, I figured out how to make it do _this_!" By sending a surge of energy into the sword, Entrapta made a hologram showing hundreds of celestial bodies emerge from the sword's Runestone. "Ta-da!"

"Incredible," Hordak said. He examined the specks of light. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Primus System of the Tryllium Galaxy. This sword-it had access to a map of every system explored by the First Ones."

Entrapta tilted her head back to get a better view of the stars around them. "I take it that it's a pretty big map, then?"

"Horde Prime and the Diamonds controlled just about every single former First Ones settlement between them, and their collective empires spanned galaxies," said Hordak. "It is likely that this sword contains a map of the entire universe."

Meanwhile, Steven, knocked unconscious during his last battle, rested within his home. As he was given a brief respite from the Horde's control in his dreams, it was then he could be contacted by a mysterious outsider…

* * *

"_Steven...can you hear me?"_

Steven opened his eyes. At least, he thought he did. Everything around him felt so fuzzy, like a television with bad reception. He got to his feet and scanned his surroundings: he seemed to be among some sort of ruins, with an expanse of lifeless desert to one side, and a long-abandoned temple to the other. The dust beneath him was tinted a dark blue against the twilight sky.

"Steven, I've been waiting for you."

Steven turned around, startled. Behind him stood a tall figure, shrouded by a purple cloak. The being carried a familiar staff in his right hand.

"Who are you?" Steven said. "How did I get here?"

The figure lowered his hood, revealing him to be an aged, blue-skinned humanoid with pointed ears and a black beard. "You aren't here, Steven. I am not here, either."

"Uh, what? What's going on?"

"My name is Keldor," the figure said. "I was a great Eternian sorcerer before my death. The reason I am able to speak to you is because before I died, I sealed my soul within my staff as a sort of failsafe. The same staff the Horde is now using to control you and your friends. I am able to reach out to you in your dreams due to your mother's ability to enter the minds of others."

"So, you're a ghost?" asked Steven.

"Only in the most basic sense," Keldor said. "But that isn't why I called you here." Keldor began walking towards the temple, gesturing for Steven to follow. "Allow me to explain: Before the Diamonds attacked, I was the defender of this world, which was known as Denebria."

"You were attacked by Homeworld, too, huh?" Steven said. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Thank you for your sympathy, child," said Keldor. Steven looked over the edge of a cliff to his side, where he saw numerous injectors dotting the landscape below.

Keldor continued. "While I was able to fend off the attackers, it came at a terrible price. Not only was I forced to give my own life to defeat the invaders, but in doing so I rendered this planet unliveable. All of my disciples were forced to leave, to find a new home among the stars."

"Wow," Steven said. "I had no idea it was this bad. I just wish I could do something. About Homeworld, I mean. To make them realize just how much damage they're doing."

"Perhaps you can, with a little help," said Keldor. "You see, Steven, by communicating with you in this way, I was given access to your memories. I am sorry for doing so without your permission, but it was unavoidable."

Steven nervously placed his hand on his head. "Uh...my memories? Wait, how come I can't see yours?"

"I have no memories, because I am dead," he explained. "But I believe you can fix that." Keldor pointed his staff towards the temple that the two of them were now standing before. "My body lies within this temple, upon my throne. By returning my staff to my body, you can return me to life."

"I can?" said Steven. "But, how am I supposed to get the staff? How am I supposed to get to this planet?"

"I am afraid I do not have those answers," said Keldor. "But I promise you, if you resurrect me, I will do everything in my power to help not just you, but your friends from Etheria as well."

"Oh, that's right," said Steven. "You must be one of those First Ones guys."

"We refer to ourselves as 'Eternians,' as Eternia is the planet we hailed from," Keldor said. "But yes, the Eternians and the First Ones are one and the same."

Steven pondered for a moment. "So you're saying that if I get your staff back from Catra, and then bring it to this planet…"

"Denebria," said Keldor.

"...and bring it to Denebria, then you'll come back to life, and help us defeat Homeworld _and_ the Horde?"

"Correct," said Keldor. "You seem apprehensive. Is something wrong?"

"Well, it's just…" Steven began. "Last time I trusted someone from another world, they turned out to be working for the Horde, so…"

"I see," Keldor said. "Unfortunately, I have not but my word to give you, but I swear that I have allegiance to none but myself, least of all the Horde."

"Hang on a minute," Steven said. "How exactly do you plan to defeat the Diamonds? Even my mom couldn't do that. Well, aside from…"

"Aside from Pink Diamond," Keldor said. "I understand your guilt over this. Steven, I may possess incredible power, but I respect your devotion to non-violence. I promise you that we can come to a compromise with them. With the Horde as well."

"Well, I don't have any other options," Steven said.

"You don't," Keldor said. "Put your faith in me, young Universe, and I will solve all of your problems. Of this you can be certain."

After some pause, Steven decided. "Okay," he said. "I'll help you. But only if you promise you'll help us."

"My gratitude is eternal, child," Keldor said. "So long have I endured the darkness of near-death, waiting for millenia for my soul to be returned. You will not regret this, Steven Quartz Universe."

Keldor waved his hand, causing himself as well as the landscape around them to fade away. Steven, now left to his own devices, knew he had to let everyone know of this revelation. But how?

It was then that Steven knew. Closing his eyes to concentrate, Steven sent his mind into the aether, to find another body to inhabit.


	10. Plan of Attack

Chapter Ten: Plan of Attack

* * *

The fire had largely gone out, only embers remaining. The dim light of the moon illuminated the sleeping figures of the Princess Alliance and their Earthly allies.

Beneath this light, one of them stirred. Sea Hawk sat up, and examined his surroundings. Only the sounds of crickets and Adora's snores permeated the air.

Sea Hawk, or rather, Steven in Sea Hawk's body, slowly crept over to Connie's sleeping form. He gently nudged her awake. "Connie," he whispered. "Connie, wake up!"

She stirred. "Mmwha?" she said groggily. "What time is it?" Suddenly, Connie leapt to her feet, grabbing her sword. "Is it the Horde!? Did they find us?"

"No, no, no!" Sea Hawk said. "It's me, Ste-" But Connie's voice had awoken the others.

Frosta immediately sprang up. "The Horde's here!" She summoned an ice dagger into her hand, wheeling around to try and spot their attackers.

"Guys, no Horde, no Horde!" Sea Hawk shouted, trying to ease the others. Sadie had gotten up, accidentally elbowing Lars in the stomach in the process. Glimmer teleported to her feet, immediately falling down from lack of energy. Eventually, only Adora remained sleeping.

"Sea Hawk, what's going on?" Mermista said drowsily. "Couldn't this have waited until morning?"

"You guys, it's me, Steven!" said Sea Hawk. Cue confused glances from just about everyone there. "Really, it is!"

"Uh...why is Sea Hawk possessed by Steven?" said Bow. "Is that a thing he can do?"

Lars nodded. "Yeah, that checks out. Trust me, I know from experience."

"Steven?" said Connie. "But...how aren't you still being brainwashed?"

"I don't think that tower thing works when I'm asleep," Sea Hawk said. "Anyway, I-"

"Wait a minute, how do we know that this isn't a Horde trick?" said Glimmer. "They knew how to find us at the Kindergarten, how do we know that isn't because _Sea Hawk's been brainwashed all along_!?" Ronaldo gasped.

"Because," said Sea Hawk, before pointing dramatically at Connie, "we're...Jam Buds!"

Blank stares all around.

"Yup, it's Steven, all right," Connie said. "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, I'm fine, don't worry about me," he said. "It's beach City you should be worried about. The Horde, they...they set up shop there. It's like they're making Beach City into an extension of the Fright Zone."

"Oh, no," Sadie said. "Is everybody okay?"

"I...I think so," said Sea Hawk. "From what I've seen, everyone's hiding in their homes. The Horde doesn't really seem concerned with them. But we need to do something before that changes!"

"Well, we're all awake now," said Lars. "Might as well start now."

"Steven, did you come with a plan to help us?" asked Ronaldo.

"Yes," answered Sea Hawk. "Well, a long-term plan, anyway. That staff thing that Catra used to mind-control me and the Gems, it belonged to this guy called Keldor."

Glimmer thought about this. "Keldor...why does that name sound so familiar?"

"He said he was a First Ones sorcerer before Homeworld almost colonized his planet," Sea Hawk explained. "Anyway, he said that if we bring the staff back to his body, he'll come back to life, and then he'll help us."

"Okay!" said Perfuma. "Um...help us with what, though?"

"Well...help us defeat the Horde, and Homeworld. To be honest, he was kinda vague about it. But it's too good of an opportunity to pass up!"

"Easy there, Steven," Sadie said. "We need to worry about the here and now before we deal with dead sorcerers. Eesh, that isn't something I ever thought I'd say…"

"That's right," Connie said. "Before we do anything with-what was his name? Keldor?-we have to save Beach City and the Gems."

"But, how are we going to do that without our powers?" asked Perfuma.

"I used to ask myself that all the time," Connie said. "Look at us. Me, Sadie, Lars, none of us have powers! Well, Lars does, but he didn't at first!"

"Yeah!" said Bow. "Me and Sea Hawk don't have powers, either. But that doesn't stop us!"

"They're right," Glimmer said. "If we want to take them down, we're going to need to do it without our powers. But we'll need a plan…"

Everyone sat in silence, staring awkwardly at each other.

"Okay, those were some good plans," said Frosta. "But I have a better one! How about this: Mermista, you can still form your tail, right?"

"Probably," Mermista answered. "Changing doesn't take that much energy. Why?"

"Because you and Sea Hawk will attack _from the seas_!" exclaimed the young princess. "When the Horde least expects it, the pair of you will make your way up to the tower, and tear the staff from its shackles! Thus, freeing the Gems, who'll help us beat the Horde."

"Wait, doesn't that staff power the tower?" said Lars. "How will we get back to Etheria without that portal?"

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," Frosta admitted. "I guess I just thought we'd kinda fade back there when we won…"

"How about we open the portal _before_ we take the staff?" Bow suggested. "I'm no First Ones expert like Entrapta, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to work the tower controls."

"Okay, so, Mermista will take Sea Hawk _and_ Bow over to the tower, and-"

"Hold on a minute, I didn't agree with this!" Mermista said. "It's hard enough just carrying Sea Hawk on my back, there's no way I'm carrying both of you!"

"Okay, so no Sea Hawk, then," Frosta said. "I guess he'll be a distraction, too. Anyone else want to pitch in?"

"If we attack the tower, they'll probably send the Gems after us," Glimmer added. "We'll need to find a way to occupy them."

"I know what to do!" cried Ronaldo. "We'll cause a diversion for our diversion!"

"Uh, what?" said Lars.

"Think about it: if we just randomly attack them out of nowhere, they'll think something's up. They might think we're trying to draw their attention away from the tower, right?"

"Which is exactly what we will be doing," Bow said.

"Exactly," Ronaldo said. "So what if we split up into two groups: one to attack the Horde and just generally draw their attention, and another to try and sneak into the tower! Meanwhile, when they inevitably find out about the second group, Mermista and Bow will already have opened the portal and freed the Gems!"

"Sounds crazy," Lars said. "But then again, crazy might be what we need right now."

"I think we princesses should be in the first group," said Perfuma. "The Horde might get suspicious if we attack them without using our powers. Which is just what we want, in this case."

"All right, let's do it!" shouted Frosta, jumping up. "Come on, let's go before they catch on!"

"No. We should wait until sunrise," said Connie.

"How come?" asked Frosta. "They might still be asleep! We should attack when they're vulnerable!"

"They'll still have guards at night," said Glimmer. "It won't make any difference."

"Besides," Connie continued, "If we attack at dawn, the sunlight will make it harder for them to see Mermista and Bow."

"Ooh, good thinking!" said Sadie.

"Thanks," Connie said. "I got that from a book."

"Sounds like you guys have this all figured out," said Sea Hawk. "I'll see you on the other side."

"Steven, wait!" Connie said. "Why are you leaving? Aren't you going to help us fight?"

"I wish I could, but I can only take over peoples' bodies when I'm asleep," Sea Hawk explained. "The Horde's probably going to wake me up when you guys attack, if not before then."

"Oh," Connie said, disappointed. "Well, see you there, I guess."

"Yeah," Sea Hawk said. "See you there."

The two shared a hug, made awkward by their different proportions.

"Yeah, not to be rude, but can you maybe stop now?" said Mermista. "It's just that it's _really_ uncomfortable having a little kid in my boyfriend's body, or whatever."

Sea Hawk looked down at Connie. "Don't worry," he said, "you got this."

With that, Sea Hawk slumped over awkwardly, almost falling down until he woke up, catching himself mid-fall. "Woah! Where-What is…" He looked up to see everyone sitting nearby. "What did I miss?"

"Hang on a minute, Mermista," said Perfuma. "Did you just call Sea Hawk your boyfriend?"

Mermista blushed. "Don't. Even. Start."


	11. Take Back the Beach

Chapter Eleven: Take Back the Beach

* * *

The sun slowly rose over Beach City, which had been largely converted into a Horde stronghold. Fortunately for the residents, the Horde soldiers were largely content to patrol the streets keeping watch for the princesses and their allies, only becoming hostile if the citizens got in their way, which most were smart enough not to do.

For a while, all was quiet. The soldiers walked along their patrol routes without issue. Hordak and his elite followers simply waited for the inevitable news that the princesses had been found and caught. Entrapta continued her work in unlocking the secrets of the Sword.

It seemed for some time that nothing eventful would occur that morning. It seemed that way, that is, until an explosion shattered the silence. A Horde bot had been destroyed by an unseen assailant, causing it to go up in flames. At the tower's peak, Hordak was alerted to this breach of security. He did not even need to send orders to his soldiers, who had run over to investigate.

The troops found not only the smoldering remains of a Horde robot, but also a Salinean smuggler wielding an energy saber. "So, you've come to apprehend me, have you?" Sea Hawk shouted. "I would like to see you try!"

The soldiers were more than happy to oblige, drawing their stun batons. But before they could overwhelm the dashing rogue, a cadre of familiar faces emerged from their hiding places nearby to launch their ambush.

"Now!" shouted Glimmer. She, Connie, and Frosta lept towards the soldiers, knocking them all to the ground. Glimmer and Connie wielded their scepter and sword, respectively, while Frosta was armed with a baseball bat. Perfuma, being the least adept at physical combat without her powers, had stayed behind to watch over Adora.

"Alright, let's draw as much attention as we can away from the B-team," Glimmer said. "So that they can draw attention away from C-team."

"More like the _Sea_-team!" said Frosta. "See, 'cause, it's like the ocean?" More Horde soldiers ran towards them.

"Uh, where exactly did you get that bat?" asked Connie.

"Nowhere important," Frosta answered, winding up a swing. "Now let's get 'em!"

* * *

"Looks like the princesses decided to take matters into their own hands," Catra said as she watched the carnage from the tower. "Maybe it's time we did the same."

"No worries, I'll send the Gems after 'em," said Entrapta. With the simple push of a few buttons, every Gem in the area, corrupted or otherwise, descended upon the gang of rebels. "There. That should give us some room to breathe."

Scorpia stood next to Catra, likewise observing the battle down below. "Something doesn't seem right," she said. "Where's the blonde one? I mean, the _other_ blonde one." Catra looked closer. Indeed, there were only five combatants in the fray. The flower princess was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the mermaid, though neither Catra nor Scorpia paid that any mind.

"Strange that they would attack us with their powers gone," Catra said. "Unless they're trying to draw our attention." Catra scanned the distant townscape for the missing party members, until she saw movement. Far from combat, she could barely make out the form of Perfuma hurriedly pulling Adora into cover behind a building.

"Entrapta, you stay here," she ordered. "Scorpia, you're with me." Catra leapt from her perch, using her claws to coast to the ground. She took off towards the second group sneaking through the backways. Scorpia opted to take the stairs instead.

Entrapta stayed behind. "Well, looks like it's just you and me, right, Hordak? Hordak?" She looked around, but the conqueror had vanished. She shrugged, and returned to her work.

Meanwhile, Perfuma continued to slink through the outskirts of town with Adora in tow, accompanied by Lars, Sadie, and Ronaldo. "So, what exactly happens if they don't find us?" asked Lars. "Like, what if they don't figure out that A-team is a diversion? We might be seriously overestimating these guys."

"The Horde has conquered countless kingdoms since it first arrived on Etheria," said Perfuma. "If anything, we're underestimating them."

"I think we should be more worried about what happens if they _do_ find us," said Ronaldo.

"At the very least, we don't have to beat them all," Sadie said. "We just have to hold them off until-"

"Until what?"

The four of them whirled around to see Catra standing atop a nearby car. Scorpia emerged from behind the vehicle, her tail poised above her head.

Lars stepped forward. "Well, look who it is! Remember me, Catra?"

"Not really," she said. "Were you the one with the sword, or am I thinking of Steven's girlfriend?"

"It's me!" Lars shouted. "I'm the one who was on the ship! I'm the whole reason you're on Earth to begin with!"

"Wow, when you put it like that, it sounds like this is all your fault," Catra said. Scorpia snickered.

"N-no!" Lars said. "I didn't ask you to use my head as a portal, but you just did that anyway!"

Catra hopped down from her perch. "Okay, let me make this quick: as much as I'd love to sit here and participate in this comedy sketch, I think I'd rather head back to base and relax. So why don't you tell me what you and your princess posse are doing here, and I'll be on my way. With you in chains, of course."

Perfuma clutched Adora closer to her. "I would like to see you try!" she cried.

Catra snapped her fingers. Scorpia stepped forwards, pounding her closed claw into her palm. "We'd be happy to," she said.

Lars readied his stun baton, and Sadie extended her battle-staff. Ronaldo stepped backwards, figuring his destabilizer would be useless.

Scorpia punched Lars halfway down the block before the boy could get a shot out. Catra lunged as well, her claws being blocked by Sadie's staff.

"I don't think we've met," Catra said as the two struggled. "I take it you and Lars are an item?" Sadie pushed Catra back. "How's that working out?"

Rather than respond, Sadie swung her staff repeatedly at Catra, but the feline dodged and leapt out of the way of every swing. Behind her, Scorpia crept in to attack.

"We have to do something!" said Perfuma. "Here, you look after Adora, I'm going to help." She handed Adora's limp form over to Ronaldo, who took her with some apprehension. Perfuma ran into the skirmish, drawing up every last drop of magic within her.

Scorpia aimed her stinger directly at Sadie's back. Just as she struck, her tail was caught suddenly by a vine. She turned around to see Perfuma, who was struggling to create even this small plant.

With almost no effort, Scorpia tore her tail free of the vine. "Bad move, Princess," she said, slowly walking towards Perfuma.

A few bolts of green energy collided with Scorpia's side, for what little good it did. Lars charged towards her, stun baton outstretched. Just as he was about to shock her, Scorpia knocked him off his feet with a swipe of her tail.

Sadie was fighting with, and losing to, Catra, Perfuma was out of magic, and Lars was lying down on somebody's lawn. "You guys really aren't having the best day," Scorpia said with a laugh.

* * *

As both battles raged, another party snuck in through the coast. Mermista in her mermaid form swam to shore, with Bow in tow. The glare of the early-morning sun obscured their approach, but most of the Horde present was too occupied to be watching the ocean.

"And here we are," Mermista said when they reached the sand. She shifted back to her human form as Bow stepped off. "Time for you to work your magic."

"With pleasure!" said Bow. The pair of them quietly made their way towards the tower on the hill. The sounds of combat were in the distance, and there seemed to be nobody around. They made their way to the top of the tower in silence.

"Be careful," said Bow. "I doubt they'd leave this place unguarded. We should watch out for…" As they reached the top of the tower, they saw a familiar lilac-headed woman standing in front of a sword. "...Entrapta."

The figure turned around. Upon seeing who had breached her defenses, her eyes widened, and she let out a light gasp. Her expression then turned not to one of anger or fear, but happiness. "Bow!" she cried, running over to him. He and Mermista took on defensive stances, but it was not needed: rather than attack them, Entrapta wrapped her arms around Bow and lifted the two of them into the air with her hair.

"It's so good to see you!" She set Bow back on the ground, who was quite confused. As was Mermista. "I haven't seen you in so long, how have you been?"

"Uh...Entrapta?" said Bow. "What are you doing up here, exactly?"

Entrapta scratched her head. "Up here...Oh! Actually, I've been working on this project Catra asked me to. Here, I'll show you!" She carried herself over to the Sword of Protection. "So, since we have Adora's sword, she wanted me to learn more about it, and maybe see if I couldn't figure out how it works! I've actually made some real progress, and I-"

"Entrapta," Bow said. "Why are you doing this?"

"Huh? Because Catra asked me to. But if I get to work with a powerful First Ones artifact, I'm not going to say no!"

"No, I mean, why are you working with the Horde?" said Bow. "How can you work for these people?"

"Well, because I-" Entrapta stopped herself, realizing what Bow meant. "Well...after you left me in the Fright Zone, I...Catra liked my talents, and asked me to help. So, I did."

Bow walked closer to her. "Entrapta, you don't have to do this." As he got closer, Entrapta looked away. "We didn't mean to leave you behind. We all thought that you were dead."

"I know," she said quietly. "But, Catra and Scorpia, they're my friends now. Hordak, too. I can't just abandon them."

"But...but _we_ were your friends," said Bow.

"Um, hang on," Mermista interjected. "Did you just say you were friends with _Hordak_?"

"Oh, hello there, Mermista," said Entrapta. "I, uh, I didn't notice you standing there." Entrapta suddenly gasped. "Oh! I just had a great idea! Why don't you and all the princesses join the Horde! That way we can all be together, and we won't have to fight anymore!"

"Entrapta…" Bow began, but Mermista had a much more direct response.

"_Join_ the Horde!?" she said, pushing Bow aside. "Are you even listening to yourself right now!? The Horde tried to destroy our kingdoms, okay? How are you okay with that!?"

Entrapta looked at her feet. "I'm not…" she said meekly.

Mermista was prepared to continue her tirade, but Bow placed a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, maybe a little harsh, but Mermista's right," he said. "Catra and the Horde are the bad guys. They're just using you for your skills."

Entrapta walked over to a nearby workbench, averting their gaze. "No they aren't," she said. "They're my friends."

"So are we," Bow said, walking closer. "Please, just come back, and we can fix this. It'll be like nothing ever changed."

"I-I can't leave," Entrapta said. "There's too much data to be found here."

"Is data really all that matters?" Mermista said. "The Horde is hurting innocent people, Entrapta. _You're_ hurting innocent people!"

"No, I'm not," she said, barely audible.

"Entrapta, please," Bow said. "I don't want you to be our enemy. It doesn't have to be like this. We can-"

Entrapta suddenly slammed her fist down on the bench, silencing both of them. "I don't care," she said, her body slowly straightening up. "It doesn't matter who I was before." She turned around. Bow had never even seen her look irritated, let alone the look of rage she now wore on her face.

Entrapta used her hair to raise herself up off the floor, towering above both Bow and Mermista. "This is my passion, my purpose. This is what I'm meant to be. And if that makes me the bad guy?" She slid her visor down, obscuring her face. Only a pair of red glowing eyes could now be seen. "Then call me the bad guy."


	12. Breaking the Chains

Chapter Twelve: Breaking the Chains

* * *

Even without their powers, Glimmer and Frosta had enough combat experience that taking down wave after wave of Horde soldiers, armed only with a blunt instrument each, was easily accomplished. And of course, Sea Hawk and Connie were adept swordfighters, so they held their own quite handily. It wasn't until a new kind of enemy entered the battle that the four of them encountered any trouble.

Sea Hawk put a bot's lights out with his saber. "How much longer are we expected to keep this battle going?" he asked.

"Just until Bow can shut down the Gems' mind control," answered Glimmer, fighting Horde soldiers back-to-back with Frosta. "Then we should have more than enough allies to finish this fight!" The pair of princesses struck out against the approaching soldiers, sending them all to the ground. "Besides, it's not like this is hard!"

Connie was fending off the soldiers as well, until she saw something approaching out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, guys?" she said. "Speaking of the Gems…"

Garnet stood on the roof of a nearby shop, looming over the gang. Amethyst and Pearl approached from the street. Behind them stood Bismuth and Peridot.

"Okay..." Frosta said. "But we beat these guys once, and we can do it again! Right?"

"Well, we kinda had our powers then," said Glimmer. "But, yeah, I'm sure Bow's working his magic up there…"

* * *

"Entrapta, stop it!" Bow shouted, fighting against her entangling locks which were attempting to bind him. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"I know _exactly_ what I'm doing!" she cried. "I'm taking over the Gems' minds so Hordak can conquer the Earth! And _you're_ trying to stop me!"

"Of course I'm trying to stop you!" said Bow. "You know I can't let you take over the Earth!" Bow pulled one of his trick arrows from his quiver, slapping it against the hair that held him. A bunch of green slime shot from the tip, quickly hardening and affixing Entrapta's hair to the tower's floor. Bow pulled himself free, making his way over to the console.

Entrapta tried to grab him with her other pigtail, but she was restrained from behind be Mermista, the water princess placing her trident across the tech princess' neck. "Not so fast," she said. "You're staying right here while Bow fixes the mess _you_ made." She looked up towards the console. "Okay Bow, I'll hold her, you work your magic!" Entrapta struggled, but she could not break free from Mermista's iron grip.

"Will do!" said Bow. "Um, okay, let's see here…" He realized he had no idea how to work the controls. "Hmm...what if I did...no, wait...how did...what does some of this stuff even mean?"

Mermista tightened her grip on her former ally. "How do we turn this thing off?"

* * *

Connie and the rest of the team were not having the best of luck dealing with the Crystal Gems. She had held her own against Pearl for a time, which is exactly why Garnet ran to her aid. The fusion was wise to the effects of Rose Quartz's old sword, and as such was careful to block Connie's strikes with her gauntlets.

Amethyst had approached Sea Hawk. "So, we meet again, by brainwashed purple adversary!" said the pirate. "Looks like it's time for round two!" Both combatants brandished their weapons.

Frosta and Glimmer were being pushed to their limits by Bismuth. Both princesses were competent fighters, but without their powers, they had no hope of standing up against the goliath.

"Come on, Bow, we're running out of time here!" said Glimmer as she ducked beneath a punch from Bismuth. "Any time now would be-woah!"

The pink princess was suddenly pulled into the air by her staff, which she refused to let go of. Peridot held her arm outstretched towards her.

"Oh, no you don't! Said Frosta she made a move to run towards the green Gem, but was grabbed by Bismuth, who held her with one arm.

Metal objects began to levitate all around the neighborhood. Manhole covers, aluminum cans, scrap from destroyed Horde bots, and even a car or two took to the air. Peridot's gaze focused on her enemies as all the metal projectiles turned towards them.

"Oh dear," said Sea Hawk.

The tiny Gem pulled her arms back as if winding up to hurl the objects at her opponents. But before she could do so, a figure suddenly lunged at her from the side. "Not today!" shouted Ronaldo as he drove the Gem destabilizer against Peridot's form. Yellow sparks filled her body until she exploded into a cloud of smoke.

All the metal she had lifted fell to the ground. Most of the pieces were small enough not to do too much damage, though one car was totaled, resulting in a car alarm ringing out. Glimmer managed to land gracefully on her feet.

Ronaldo picked up the inert gemstone. "I've defeated the metallic menace!" he proclaimed.

Before the young man had any more time to celebrate, Frosta called out a quick "Look out!" as Bismuth threw her towards him. She collided with Ronaldo, sending the both of them a good distance away. Bismuth ran after them.

Glimmer, Connie, and Sea Hawk were surrounded by the remaining Gems. "Just a little longer," said Glimmer. "Bow will come through for us. He always does!"

Connie raised her sword. "I sure hope you're right," she said. Glimmer raised her staff. Sea Hawk raised his saber.

The ground shook, catching the three of them off-guard. Numerous massive vines rose from the lawns and broke through the pavement. As these plants closed in, a shadow fell over the group. "Perfuma?" said Glimmer, turning around hopefully.

Steven hung over the group, standing atop a large vine. The other vines, as well as the other Crystal Gems closed in on the trio. They all held up their weapons, prepared to fight until the end.

All of a sudden, the vines receded. All three Gems stopped in their tracks. It was Pearl who looked up first. When she did, her eyes no longer shone pure white. "What...happened?" she asked in confusion.

"You're askin' me?" said Amethyst. "I don't even know where I am right now."

"We're in Beach City," said Garnet, "but something is very wrong."

"He...he did it!" shouted Glimmer. "Bow worked his magic!"

All three of them were filled with relief at this revelation. Wherever Bismuth had chased them off to, Ronaldo and Frosta were no doubt quite relieved as well. Behind them, Steven came to. He rubbed his eyes as though he had just woken up, which he had, in a way.

"Steven!" shouted Connie. She sprinted over to the boy, throwing her arms around him. "You're okay!"

"You're okay too!" he said, returning her embrace. "You did it. You set us free."

"We did," said Glimmer. "Well, Bow did most of the work, but we helped."

"Steven!" came the voice of Pearl. She, Amethyst and Garnet all ran over to him. "Oh, thank the stars you're alright! Did they hurt you at all?"

"No, no, I'm okay," he said. "All they did was put us under some sort of mind control. But our friends from Etheria fixed everything!" He gestured towards Glimmer.

"Not _everything_," said the princess. "Come on. We've still got the Horde's mess left to clean up!"

* * *

"Wow, that was bad," said Scorpia. "I mean, you guys never were all that, but _yikes_!" She laughed.

Lars and Sadie had both been cast aside, unconscious and covered with bruises and scratches. Perfuma, meanwhile, was held in Scorpia's tight grip.

"Aww...what's it like, having to fight without your flower powers?" asked Catra. "You know, you kind of remind me of a cactus. You can be pretty some of the time, but you've got thorns. But underneath those defences…" she extended her claws. "Well, let's find out!"

Catra lunged. Perfuma closed her eyes, anticipating the blow. Before Catra could strike, she was blindsided by a newly-revitalized Adora, who punched her right in the cheek.

Catra stumbled back, getting her bearings. "Hey, Adora," she said, wiping off her chin.

"I got her!" said Scorpia, throwing Perfuma to the side. She grabbed Adora in a bear hug.

"I'm not letting you get away with this, Catra!" shouted Adora.

"Oh, save your whole hero routine!" the Force Captain said. "You won't 'let' me do anything! I've already gotten away with this!"

"Uh, Catra?" asked Scorpia. "If she's not, y'know...weird...doesn't that mean the Gems are free now?"

Catra paused for a moment to consider this. Before she could come to a conclusion, she was suddenly beaned in the skull by a pink discus, knocking her to the ground.

"What the…?" Scorpia began, before she, too, was knocked aside by a Gem attack. Garnet collided with the giant Force Captain, freeing Adora from her grasp.

Catra got to her feet. Both she and Scorpia were being approached by not only Steven and his allied, but the remaining princesses as well.

Mermista ran towards the group, bearing the Sword of Protection. "Adora, catch!" she said, throwing the blade to her. She did so.

"For the honor of Grayskull!" The surrounding area was filled with a blinding light as Adora tapped into the Sword's power. In no time, she had become She-Ra.

"So, uh, do we run yet?" asked Scorpia.

Catra glanced back towards the tower, and grinned. "Not yet. The princesses still don't have their powers. As for the Gems, I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Adora. "Don't tell me you're trying to get them to fight for you willingly!"

"No," said Mermista. "It's Bow. They got him."

"What!?" said Glimmer. Mermista nodded. "What are we waiting for, let's go save him!"

Adora turned to the Gems. "You go help, I've got this!" Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl ran off towards the tower, but another bright light momentarily appeared behind Adora. She turned around to see where it had come from.

"Need some help?" said Stevonnie.

Meanwhile, the Gems had reached the tower. Before they could ascend the stairway, a dark figure blocked their path. Hordak stood before them, clutching Bow by the throat in one of his hands.

"Your first mistake was forgetting about me," the leader of the Horde said. "A fatal mistake."


	13. Liberation

Chapter Thirteen: Liberation

* * *

Moments Earlier…

"I'm not telling you!" said Entrapta.

Mermista wasn't having this. "Listen, _traitor_, I'm _really _not in the mood for this right now. Either tell us how we shut off your mind control, or we do this the easy way and smash it."

Entrapta groaned, trying to decide whether her loyalty to Hordak or her love of tech was stronger. "Okay! I'll tell you!" she eventually said.

"That's what I thought," Mermista said.

Entrapta gave Bow the instructions on how to deactivate the control over the Gems. As he did so, a pulse of energy seemed to be absorbed into the tower's apex. "Did...did we do it?"

"It appears that you did," a voice said from behind them. The three turned around to see-

"Hordak!" shouted Entrapta.

Upon seeing his lab partner at the mercy of the two rebels, Hordak became enraged. "Get away from her!" he yelled, charging. Mermista dodged to the side, but Bow was knocked against the console.

"Mermista! Run! Grab Adora's sword and go!" Bow managed to choke out. Mermista picked the Sword of Protection up from the research desk and fled the scene, giving Bow one last glance as she did so.

"Hordak! The sword!" said Entrapta as Hordak freed her from her trick arrow-induced bindings.

"Never mind that," he said. Once Entrapta was free, he walked over to Bow's form. "We have something even better…"

* * *

Currently...

"Put him down!" yelled Glimmer to Hordak, brandishing her staff. Mermista raised her trident, and the Crystal Gems all summoned their weapons.

Hordak sneered. "What exactly do you expect to do without your magic, _princess_?" There was noticeable contempt on the last word.

"It's _us_ you should be worried about!" said Garnet, with Amethyst and Pearl standing beside her.

"So, the nuisance undid our control over your kind. No matter." Hordak tossed Bow aside, where Glimmer rushed over to him. "I'll just have to end you myself!"

Hordak sprinted towards the Gems, who rushed at him as well. Garnet's fists collided with those of the Horde's leader, sending a powerful shockwave across the battlefield. She threw another punch, which Hordak blocked with his arm. Even he seemed surprised that this worked, as though he knew how powerful Gems could be.

Amethyst made the next move, lashing her whip at her enemy. Once again Hordak blocked it with his arm. The whip wrapped itself around his forearm, and he pulled Amethyst towards him with a mighty yank. He punched her when she reached him, sending her flying backwards.

While this fight was going on, Glimmer was tending to her friend. "Bow! Bow, are you alright?" she said.

Bow sat up, dazed. "I'm okay, just a bit banged up," he said. "It's a good thing you guys got here when you did."

"_Yeah_ it is," said Mermista, who had approached unseen. "So, what are we going to do about Hordak? Not to be a downer, but I kinda doubt the Gems can take him."

As if to prove her point, Pearl through a spear at the villain, who grabbed it out of the air with hardly a glance before hurling it right back.

"You'd be surprised," said Glimmer. "Those guys are pretty tough. But with Bow injured and us out of power, there isn't much we can do to help right now." She placed Bow's arm over her shoulder and lifted him to his feet. "Right now, let's find a place to lay low."

"Wait," said Bow. "Help me get back into the tower. We have to open a gateway back to Etheria." Glimmer and Mermista looked to each other.

Meanwhile, Scorpia seemed to be in over her head. "Aw, come on, this isn't fair!" she said. Standing before her, brandishing their swords and shield, Stevonnie and She-Ra stood side-by-side. "Could we at least do a tag-team sort of thing?"

Stevonnie seemed to consider this. "I mean, she's got a point. I'm down if you are," they said to Adora. The warrior was having none of this, opting instead to charge Scorpia.

The arachnid woman ducked her attacker's blow with a "Yipe!" before responding with a strike of her own. She-Ra was knocked back by her punch, but recovered quickly, swinging the blunt end of her sword at Scorpia. She blocked this with one of her her claws, and sent a punch in Adora's direction with her other one. Stevonnie suddenly appeared in front of her, the blow colliding with their shield.

The fusion was knocked back a few feet, but their defenses held. "Why don't you fight someone your own size?" they said.

"There _is_ no one my size!" said Scorpia. "I could ask you to do the same thing!" She sent her stinger in Stevonnie's direction. They ducked underneath it, the barb just barely passing by their face.

Stevonnie knocked Scorpia's tail downward with their shield, pinning it to the ground with their foot. "You aren't catching us off-guard with that this time!" they said.

"Oh yeah?" said Scorpia. "Is she?"

Before Stevonnie could register what she meant by this, Catra landed on their shoulders. She pulled the fusion off-balance, causing them to crash to the ground. Catra then perched on their chest, constricting their breath.

"What, three against one?" she said. "And I thought you heroes were supposed to play fair!"

Catra leapt from her perch to avoid Adora's sword. Stevonnie got to their feet. "And I thought you needed our help! Looks like neither of us knew any better."

Scorpia looked back and forth between Catra and Stevonnie, seeming to notice something. "Uh, Catra?"

"What now?" Catra snapped.

"Uh...it's nothing, don't worry about it," Scorpia said with a shrug.

Catra returned her focus to Stevonnie. "Aww, are you still sore that we tricked you?" Catra said. "Don't take it personally, I can do that to just about anyone! Though you and your team of freaks were easier to fool than most…"

"That's it, you're going down!" said Stevonnie, charging at both their foes. They leapt into the air, prepared to bring their shield down on Catra, but Scorpia knocked them aside before they could do so. They caught themself with their sword, stopping their momentum by dragging it through the ground. They charged again.

Adora pointed the Sword of Protection at Scorpia, as a blue beam of energy burst forth from the tip. The Force Captain was knocked back, but recovered quickly, thrusting her stinger at her opponent. Adora's weapon quickly morphed from a blade to a shield, which the barb glanced harmlessly off of. Adora used this opportunity to fire another beam at Scorpia, this one from the shield's runestone. As she was much closer this time, Scorpia was sent flying. Stevonnie, who had been locked in combat with Catra, sent her feline foe flying as well. Both them and Adora stood side by side once again.

"That's a pretty neat shield you've got there," they said to Adora.

"Thanks, you too," Adora said. She transformed the Sword of Protection back to its original form. "Nice sword."

"Thanks," Stevonnie said, "you too." Across from them, Scorpia dusted herself off and lifted Catra up off the ground. Both Force Captains refocused their attention towards the heroes. "So, you ready to finish this?"

"Always ready!" Adora said.

* * *

"I wish there was more we could do without our powers," said Perfuma, "but there are some enemies you just can't fight."

"Yeah. At least not without surviving," added Sadie.

She, Perfuma, and Lars were taking refuge behind the Big Donut, a locale which the Horde seemed to have largely ignored. Exhausted and magic-less, there wasn't much they could do at this point.

"Hang on," said Lars. "Who's that over there? Is that…?"

The other two followed his gaze. A familiar figure stood in the distance, appearing to be disoriented. With her deep blue skin, there was only one person she could be.

"Lapis! Over here!" shouted Sadie. The Gem turned towards her, and flew over to the group.

"You guys...you're Steven's friends, right? What's happening right now? The last thing I remember was sitting on the moon, the next thing I know, I wake up here. Where are we?"

"We're still in your home, I'm afraid," said Perfuma. "The Horde has conquered this town, turning it into a place of evil."

"Right," Lapis said. "Well, I don't know what the Horde is, or who you are...but what can I do to help?"

* * *

The Crystal Gems' fight against Hordak was not going well, to say the least. The conqueror was showing the trio exactly why he was the feared leader of the Horde.

"Weak!" he shouted as he slammed Garnet on top of Amethyst. "Worthless!" he yelled as he punched Pearl several meters into the distance. "You cannot stand against me! I am Horde Prime's champion!"

"You were," Garnet said weakly.

"Impudent wretch!" Hordak snarled. "I will grind all of you to dust!"

At that moment, all four of them, and most likely everyone else nearby, was surprised to hear a sound like a lighting strike emanating from the air above the tower. Looking there would reveal numerous sparks of energy coalescing to form a giant orb of energy. This orb split apart into a ring, inside of which another location entirely could be seen. Though hard to make out from a distance, those close to the tower could clearly make out the Fright Zone.

"What is the meaning of this?" Hordak asked to nobody in particular. While he was distracted, Amethyst swung her whip in his direction, wrapping it around his neck.

Hordak grabbed at his throat and turned around to seize the offending weapon. Before he could, Garnet struck with a powerful punch to his midsection. Hordak reeled and spat out a glob of purple liquid. Garnet continued to punch, though he was somewhat able to block these.

As a follow-up, Pearl threw her spear once more. Hordak dodged the projectile, but not far enough: the spear grazed his side, tearing through his armor. More of the purple liquid dripped from this wound as Hordak fell to his knees. His armor sparked, and he seemed weakened.

"No!" cried Entrapta, rushing to his side. Wielding a scalpel, she sliced through the whip that held Hordak before pulling him to the safety of the tower. As she closed the door, she shot a ferocious glare at the Crystal Gems.

Elsewhere, Adora and Stevonnie were still clashing with Scorpia and Catra. The fight seemed to have no apparent winner, but some parties were more fatigued than others.

"Just...just give up," said Scorpia, panting. "It'll make it...easier for the...the both of us. Or the four of us, rather. Or would that be five?" She turned to Stevonnie. "Hey, are you, like, one person now, or are you still two people?"

Stevonnie was still fighting Catra. "I'm an experience!" they shouted back.

"Oh, okay!" said Scorpia. "That answered literally nothing, but thanks anyway!" She turned back to Adora. "As I was saying, just give up! It'll be easier for the four and/or five of us!"

"Not a chance!" said Adora. "You'll have to try harder than that to-" She suddenly stopped talking. "Do you hear that, too?"

"What, you mean that rumbling? I can _feel_ that," said Scorpia. She looked around for an apparent cause. "Where is that coming from, anyway?"

She soon got her answer. In the distance, an enormous wall of water was approaching fast. Thousands upon thousands of gallons were rushing towards the city from all directions.

"Oh my gods, it's the end-times!" Scorpia shouted. "Man, it showed up sooner than I expected. Everyone abandon ship! Cats and Scorpions first!"

Speaking of cats, Catra was no more happy to see this than her compatriot was. "What!?" she shrieked, her fur bristling. To her side, Stevonnie had protected themself in a bubble. Catra looked around for someplace to take refuge, but she only saw Adora. Deciding this was good enough, she jumped to her former friend, wrapping herself around her neck. All four of them were soon swept up by the waves.

From atop the tower, Bow looked down at the approaching torrent. "Uh, Mermista?" he said nervously.

"I know what you're thinking, but that isn't mine," she said.

"Well, whoever's it is, we should probably be somewhere else right now!" said Bow.

"Don't look at me," Mermista said. "I can only carry one of you at a time. Either you or Glimmer would have to stay up here."

"Maybe not," Glimmer said. "Both of you, come closer." They did so. "Here goes nothing. Hold on to something!"

"But Glimmer, you're out of power!" said Bow.

"I know," Glimmer replied. "That's why I said to hold on!"

Glimmer closed her eyes and focused, drawing every last dreg of magic within her to the surface. She and her passengers flickered a few times, until the three of them finally vanished, reappearing on a nearby rooftop where they were safe from the tsunami.

"Glimmer, are you alright?" Bow asked the princess, who was very nearly unconscious.

"Did...did we win?" she said weakly.

Mermista looked at the water. It seemed to be lifting up all of the Horde's machinery and troops, while leaving everything else behind. Everything swept up in the currents was being deposited through the portal. "Um...it looks like we're about to…"

"Then yeah, I'd say I'm pretty good," Glimmer said as she passed out. She would live, but for the next few hours, she would be out like a light.

Lapis expertly maneuvered the water, careful only to carry off the Horde. Several watery tendrils wrapped around the tower, lifting it into the air.

"Careful with that tower!" said Perfuma. "That's our only way back to Etheria."

"Don't worry, I got this," Lapis said. "I think. Just hold on a moment…" The tower was tipping sideways on its way through the portal.

Catra was unceremoniously dumped onto the tower's side by the waves, along with Adora. The former kept herself from falling off with her claws, but the latter had no such grip, having dropped her sword on the way up. As she slid down, she grabbed onto the first thing she could reach, which happened to be the Staff of Keldor itself.

Before Adora could pull herself up, Catra appeared above her. "Well, this looks pretty familiar, doesn't it?" she said.

"Catra, enough games!" Adora said. "Quick, pull me up!" Keldor's staff was being pulled out of its slot, causing the portal, which the tower was almost through, to flicker. Not helping was Catra placing her foot on the staff.

"I definitely _could_ do that," she said. "But the more I think about it, wouldn't it be easier for us to conquer the world without you and your princess buddies?" She pressed down on the staff, further shaking it loose.

"No, don't!" cried Adora. "Catra, if you do this, we'll be stranded on Earth!"

"Aw, don't worry, we'll come back for you!" said Catra. "You know...once we control Etheria. Besides, this isn't such a bad place to be, right? I mean, I definitely hate it here, but I'm sure you and your little friends will fit right in!" Catra raised up her foot and stomped hard on the staff.

Adora's grip waned. "Catra...no!" But Catra only smirked.

"Bye, Adora."

With one final push, the staff came loose. As it was the only thing she still held on to, Adora fell with it, plummeting to the ground below. The portal gradually shrank into nothingness, and the last glimpse of Etheria that Adora saw was Catra's look of vicious delight.

Time seemed to stand still as Adora was suspended between earth and sky. She let go of the staff as she fell, no longer needing its support. Fortunately for everyone, Adora was caught by Lapis' water before she could hit the ground.

Everyone, Etherian or Earth-native, was relieved. However, Mermista was the first to realize that the portal was missing. Without the tower, they had no way to get back to Etheria.

"_Now_ what are we supposed to do?" she asked.


	14. To the Stars

Chapter Fourteen: To the Stars

* * *

For your average Horde cadet like, for instance, Kyle, it was a normal day in the Fright Zone. Sure, Hordak and Catra were away on some mysterious expedition to who-knows-where, but it wasn't like that impacted anything for him. Of course, when a giant portal appeared in the sky, the normal day quickly took a turn for the strange.

Then, when swaths of Horde infrastructure came barreling through the portal, carried by several thousand gallons of water, the strange day quickly took a turn for the unlucky.

Kyle immediately took off at a heavy sprint, but the deluge was moving too fast to outrun. The poor boy was swept up in the tidal wave, along with several other Horde soldiers. In the middle of all this, a tower fell through the portal as well, crashing down violently to the ground. At the end of it all, everyone nearby sat in a very smashed, very wet sector of the Fright Zone.

Poor Kyle picked himself up from the knee-high water as a cleaning bot floated past. "I really wish Catra told us about these sorts of things…" he lamented.

The portal closed mere moments after the tower was unceremoniously dropped through it. Near its point of impact, Scorpia opened her eyes. "Is it over?" she asked nobody in particular. Upon recognizing the familiar, albeit thoroughly soaked, surroundings, the woman felt around her person to make sure no pieces of her were missing or damaged. The Force Captain sighed in relief once she found that she was unharmed. "Well, would you look at that! Everything's coming up Scorpia!"

Everything was not, however, coming up Catra. She tore through the interior of the tower, just as sopping as everyone else in the surrounding area. "Urgh…why do those princess types always get the best superpowers? Why can't _we_ have someone on our side who can completely demolish a base like that?"

"Y'know, I was just thinking about that the other day," said Scorpia. "The Princess Alliance and those Crystal Gems have their superpowers and stuff, and we and Homeworld have robots. It's kinda weird, isn't it?"

"Scorpia, I'm not in the mood," Catra groaned.

She wasn't heard. "I suppose it all works out, though. We may only have robots, but hey, they get the job done!" Over to her left, a Horde bot attempted to walk forward, its legs carrying it nowhere due to it being on its head. "Uh...okay, not the best example. But you get me, right, Catra?"

Before the catgirl could answer, something violently smashed its way out of the tower's wreckage. That 'something' was Hordak, who was still kicking despite being injured by the Gems. He stumbled out a few steps, groaning in pain, before falling to his knees.

"Hold on, I've got you!" said Entapta, who hurried after him. She braced her lab partner against herself, preparing to walk him back to his sanctum. "What did they do to you? Are you hurt? You're hurt, aren't you? I can fix this, just let me-"

"I am fine," Hordak growled, lifting himself up. Despite his claims, he held is side and walked with a limp. "I will not be so easily defeated by some off-colored rejects. I brought this pitiful planet to its knees, I cannot…" He winced, falling over to the side before Entrapta caught him again.

"I knew it," she said darkly. "Just you wait, once I get my hands on them, I'll...I'll take over their minds for good!" Her demeanor lightened. "But for now, let's get you some rest."

"No!" shouted Hordak. "We need to keep moving! The more time we give them, the stronger they will become. We must strike once more before they are allowed to regroup. How soon until you can open another portal?"

"Not for a while," Catra interjected. "That Staff of Keldor you were so fixated on? I left it on Earth. And now the princesses are stuck there, too. We already won."

Rather than be pleased, as Catra had expected, Hordak snarled and lunged towards her, only stopped by his weakened state. "Fool! The Staff was our greatest advantage! Now, thanks to you, it's in the princesses' hands!"

"What? Look, we don't _need_ the staff!" said Catra. "The princesses and their new friends are stranded in some other dimension, so Etheria is ours for the taking! And without someone who knows anything about First Ones tech, how are they supposed to get back?"

"Before you made this rash decision," Hordak growled, "did you consider the archer? Did you consider the fact that Gems and First Ones tech are one and the same? Did you consider _anything_ aside from Adora?"

Catra's pupils shrunk at this comment before her will returned in full. "I just handed you Etheria on a silver platter! How does one simple little staff-"

"Enough! I won't allow our enemies to possess such raw power." Hordak turned to Entrapta. "Is there another way to return to Earth?"

"Well, theoretically," said Entrapta. "I should still be connected to the Gem's warp network, which could allow us to pass through the dimensional barrier. But-"

"Good," said Hordak. "Open another portal as soon as you can. You…" he said to Scorpia, "...escort me back to my chambers. And you…" he said to Catra, "...are to retrieve the Staff of Keldor. I meant it when I said you would not be welcome in the Fright Zone until the Earth was ours." With no other choice, Scorpia took Hordak's weight from Entrapta and assisted him towards his sanctum.

Catra remained, staring at the remains of the tower. Her fist clenched as her breathing grew heavier.

"Hey, Catra?" said Entrapta, momentarily snapping her out of her rage. "You don't need to be upset about Hordak. He's just mad that things didn't go according to plan. He hates it when that happens."

"Yeah, I noticed," Catra said softly. "That's the problem."

"I'll talk to him once he's cooled off. I'm sure this whole thing will be behind us in no time!" She hoped this pep talk would cheer Catra up, but she still seemed bitter. Not that she was without reason. Entrapta returned to her lab, sending one last look in her friend's direction.

Catra bounded up onto the felled tower. From her perch, she scanned all of the Fright Zone she could see, certain that she could do a better job of running it than Hordak ever could. Her, run the Fright Zone? Now there, there was an idea.

* * *

Everyone stared into the sky at the space the portal between worlds had been moments prior. With this gateway gone, not only could the Princess Alliance not return home, but Lars could not be reunited with the off-colors.

"That...that wasn't my fault, was it?" asked Lapis. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time I screwed things up, but-"

"Lapis?"

The blue Gem turned around at this familiar voice. A voice she had left behind. There stood Peridot, having regenerated from her destabilization. The two stared at each other for several moments.

Peridot stepped forward. "I..I thought...didn't you leave?"

"I did," Lapis said bluntly. "But I couldn't get far." She sat down on the beach, where Peridot sat beside her. "I thought about everything I would be leaving behind, and I...I stayed. I took the barn to the moon, and that's where I stayed. I couldn't face the idea of fighting the Diamonds, but I didn't want to face you all after leaving."

Peridot became misty-eyed, something she (poorly) attempted to hide. "Lapis...I'm glad you're back."

Lapis smiled. "I'm glad I'm back, too." She looked at the green Gem. "Because back is where you are."

Peridot laughed, throwing her arms around Lapis, a gesture which was returned. Being who he is, Steven soon joined in on the embrace. "Lapis is back!" He turned to the other Gems. "Guys, look who's back!"

"It's, er, good to see you again, Lapis!" Pearl said awkwardly. Amethyst offered Steven a thumbs-up.

Adora stood beside the Gems. "Sooo...I didn't want to interrupt, but I found this staff thingy that Catra was using." She held up the Staff of Keldor. "Not to ruin the mood, but does that help us in any way?"

"Maybe it would, if we knew what it was," said Garnet.

"Obviously, it's...okay, I have no idea what it is," Adora admitted. "But whatever it is, the Horde was using it to control you guys and create the portal, so it has to be important. Bow, do you have any idea what this is?"

"It certainly _looks_ familiar," Bow said. "All I know is that it's some sort of First Ones tech that was powering their tower. I don't know it I could figure out how it works, though."

"Oh!" Steven said, hurrying over to Adora. "I know what that is! That's Keldor's staff! He told me in a dream that if we bring it back to him, he can help us!"

"_That's_ where I knew it from!" said Bow. "My dads had all sorts of history texts about the guy. I don't really remember many of them, but he was a sorcerer of some kind."

This conversation caught the attention of Peridot. "Wait...why do I know that name? 'Keldor.' It sounds so familiar, and yet…"

Steven rubbed the back of his head. "Well, he told me that his planet was destroyed by Homeworld, so that's probably where you heard of him from."

"And, what planet was that?"

"Denebria," Steven answered.

"That sounds vaguely familiar," Peridot said, nodding.

"So, hang on, let me get this straight," Amethyst said. "We're supposed to bring this staff thingy to some rando wizard guy who not only do none of us know, but is also on another planet?" A brief silence followed. "Yeah, I'm down. When do we leave?"

"Steven, are you sure this is the best idea?" said Pearl. "We don't know that we can trust this...whatever his name was. Besides, our last few trips into space haven't gone so well…"

"What else are we supposed to do?" said Lars, who had only just arrived. "This Keldor guy could be our only way back to Etheria! How else am I ever going to see my crew again?"

"And without a way to open a portal, we have no way to get home!" cried Perfuma. "Oh no...without us, who will stand in the way of the Horde's advance?"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Mermista said. "Even without us, the Rebellion can hold its own. You got...actually, nevermind, they're screwed without us."

"What about Peridot?" Pearl said, taking the staff from Adora. "Peridot, do you think you can figure out how this thing works?"

"Pearl, do you have any idea who you're talking to?" the green Gem said, taking the staff. "I can figure out how _anything_ works!" She held the staff, examined it from all angles, and even swung it around a few times. "Okay, I have studied this object extensively and I have come to a conclusion! I...have absolutely no idea what this is whatsoever, let alone how to use it." She handed it back to Pearl. "I gave it my best shot, but you're on your own with this one."

"You see, Pearl?" said Steven. "Nobody knows how to work it except Keldor. If we can bring it back to him, he said he'd help us fight against Homeworld _and_ the Horde!"

"He did? We have to find him, then!" said Perfuma.

"Steven, your history of trusting people hasn't exactly been the greatest. Remember that Homeworld Ruby? And what about Catra?"

"What about Peridot? Or Lapis?" Steven countered. "I trusted them, and they turned out just fine!" Both Gems waved helpfully to demonstrate his point. "We just need to be prepared for if he is bad. It'll be like that movie with the swearing raccoon: We'll trust him, and if he's evil, you can just beat him up like you usually do!"

Amethyst laughed. "Yeah, we do do that a lot."

Pearl sighed. "Alright. I don't like it, but I suppose we don't have many other options. But the question is, how are we supposed to get to where he is? We don't exactly have a ship just lying around."

"Maybe you would, if you hadn't destroyed mine," Peridot said. "Wait a minute...do you still have the pieces of the handship?"

"We do," said Garnet. "If I remember correctly, we stored the pieces in Amethyst's room."

"Ya did?" said the purple Gem. "Man, maybe I _should_ clean that place…"

"That's what I keep telling you!" said Pearl.

"Then it's settled!" said Peridot. "We'll rebuild the handship, fly to Denebria, bring Keldor back to life, and then...some other things'll happen, and then everyone will be happy!"

"And, how long exactly are we expecting repairing this ship to take?" asked Bow.

"Oh, a few months, probably, nothing crazy," Peridot said.

"A few months!?" shouted an angry Mermista. "The Horde will have taken over Etheria by then! We don't _have_ a few months!"

"I'm only one Gem, okay!?" replied Peridot. "If I'm the only one working on it, a few months is the best you get!"

"I think I can help with that," a husky voice said from behind the group.

Everyone turned around. There stood a muscular blue-skinned Gem with rainbow dreadlocks, and a multicolor concave gemstone on her chest. She stood there awkwardly, averting everyone's gaze.

Frosta appeared from behind her. "Did we win?" the small princess asked.

Steven stared at the figure. "B-Bismuth…" was all he could say.

"Yeah, hey, it's me," she said. "So...I know that our last meeting wasn't exactly on the best terms, but-" Steven walked closer to Bismuth, causing her to turn away. "I know ya don't trust me, and you're right not to. I just figured...nevermind, I'll go now."

"Bismuth, it's okay," Steven said, smiling. He held out his hand. "In fact, we could really use your help right now."

"You really mean it?" she said. "Even after I tried to kill ya?"

"Oh, don't let that bother you!" Steven said. "For me, a Gem trying to kill me is like them saying hello!"

"That's actually pretty messed up when you think about it, but I'm glad you'll have me," she said, returning Steven's arm of friendship. "But, uh, are you sure that the others'll-"

"We will," Garnet said, suddenly encompassing Bismuth with a hug. "It's good to have you back, old friend."

"Aw, guys," Bismuth said as Pearl and Amethyst joined in the embrace as well. "Stop, you're gonna me cry in front'a the kid."

"Don't worry about that either," Pearl said. "We cry all the time," she added under her breath, earning a chuckle from Bismuth.

"So, you all are gonna have to fill me in on what I missed, because I have _no_ idea who half of these people are," Bismuth said. "We got, let's see, pink person? Small blue girl? A Peridot and a Lapis, those two I know. And, uh…" She turned towards Glimmer's motionless form, propped up against a house. "...is that one dead?"

"Only on the outside," Glimmer mumbled.

"She'll be fine, she's just a bit low on energy," Bow explained.

"Ha! I hear ya there, sister!" Bismuth said. "Who else we got here? Hey, Blondie! Cool sword!"

Adora, who had been been staring at Bismuth in silence since she arrived, snapped back to reality. "Oh, uh, thanks! It's magic, and stuff."

"'Course it is!" Bismuth said. "Now, where're we goin' once we get this ship up and running, anyhow?"

"Beats me," Adora said. "Apparently, we need to find a way to some planet called 'Denebria.'"

The moment she said this, a bright light suddenly shot from the Sword of Protection's runestone. This light filled the air around Adora, giving way to what appeared to be a star map of some sort, showing numerous galaxies. Two of these galaxies were connected by a red line, and the picture zoomed in to reveal two planets, one of which was unmistakably Earth.

"Well, uh...okay then!" said Adora.


	15. Lies

Chapter Fifteen: Lies

* * *

"Oh, she's so _cute_!" cooed Perfuma. Around her legs ran an animate pumpkin, barking like a dog, and clearly excited to have a new playmate. The princess leaned down to pet her, laughing as Pumpkin licked her face.

"Isn't she?" said Peridot. "Steven made her for us. One of his finest creations, in my opinion."

"He has others?" said Lapis. Peridot shrugged.

Having given and received plenty of affection from Perfuma, Pumpkin bounded over to Lapis, hopping up into the blue Gem's arms where she growled contentedly.

Peridot grinned. "I think she's glad you're back," she said.

"That makes three of us," Lapis said with a smile. "Four, including Steven."

Speaking of Steven, he was busy discussing the upcoming trip with someone he hadn't seen for several days: his father, Greg.

"..and then, Lapis used her water powers to push the Horde back through the portal. But that's why we need to rebuild Peridot's ship, because we don't have any way for the princesses and Sea Hawk to get back to Etheria."

"Wow. That, uh...that sounds like a chore," Greg said. "You sure you don't want to rest a bit before you start building this ship? You've been through a lot lately."

"Don't worry, Dad, I'm fine! Besides, we already started. I thought it would be best to get to Denebria as soon as possible."

The door to Steven's house opened, and out stepped Connie, Bow, and Glimmer. Each was carrying a piece of the Gem handship that had brought Lapis, Peridot, and Jasper to Earth several years prior. A sizeable pile of these pieces was being generated on the beach.

"So, you guys have heard of this place, too?" asked Connie.

"Sort of," answered Bow. "Those texts weren't very detailed. All that they said was that Keldor was a fairly major figure for the First Ones, and left it at that. Kinda weird when you think about it."

"What about the stories?" said Glimmer.

"What stories?" said both Bow and Connie.

"About Keldor. It's been a while since I heard the stories, but they said he was one of the most powerful sorcerers in history. He was ancient, too: he existed way before Etheria. According to the stories, he travelled from world to world, protecting them from the demon Skeletor."

"I think I remember something like that," Bow said. "The texts mentioned something about a 'Skeletor,' but the translation was a bit spotty. I think we read its name as 'Skulltor.'"

"So, hang on a minute," said Connie. "If Keldor is real, then that means the stories are true. And if the stories are true...will we have to deal with some skull demon, too?"

"If we do, hopefully Keldor really is a good guy like Steven says he is, and he can help us." Bow said.

"All I remember the stories saying about Skeletor was that it was a bunch of smaller beings formed into one, that travelled the universe and devoured planets," Glimmer said. "I could be wrong, but based on what Steven told us, that sounds a lot like Homeworld. Maybe 'Skeletor' was just how the First Ones saw the Gems."

"You know, that actually sounds pretty plausible," said Connie. "Hey, if it means one less baddie to deal with, I'm down."

Bismuth walked passed the trio, depositing a gigantic chunk of spaceship on the pile. "Less talky, more worky!" she said. "You want to get back to your dimension, right?"

Adora, in She-Ra form, followed close behind the colossal Gem, and placed another piece of the ship down. "Ah, there. How many of these things are left, anyway?"

"Hmm..." Bismuth examined the pile. "Enough to build a spaceship, so I'd say...we're about a quarter of the way there."

Mermista had just walked over when Bismuth said this. She dropped the piece she was currently carrying, and walked back towards the temple with an "Uggghhh…" Nobody noticed her.

"And you're sure you know how to build this thing?" Adora asked Bismuth as the two of them returned into the temple.

"Sure. How hard could it be?" she answered. Her answer didn't exactly fill Adora with confidence. "Besides, I've got Pearl and Greenie to help. They seem to have a real knack for tech stuff. It'll turn out fine, trust me."

"Uh...yeah, okay," Adora replied. She didn't completely trust her on this quite yet. "I'll bet Bow could probably help. He's pretty good with building stuff, too."

The other Crystal Gems walked past, carrying more pieces of the ship. Mermista and Sea Hawk worked together to carry a particularly large one, and Frosta held a piece almost as big as she was. It took her several minutes longer than the others to get it to the pile.

Frosta set the massive piece down with the others before sitting down on the beach. "Okay...I think I've reached my limit," she said, exhausted.

"You only brought out the one piece," Mermista said as she walked by.

"This would be a lot easier if we had our magic," she said. "Oh man, I can't wait to recharge." She fell to the side. "Wake me up when we get back home."

"Well, while you nap, we're going to go and be productive," Mermista said. "Sea Hawk, you coming?"

Sea Hawk seemed quite tired as well. "Yes, I'm...right behind you. Adventure…" he said weakly.

"Don't worry about it, Frosta," Steven said. "You can rest. We'll take care of it."

"Cool," she said. When Steven didn't laugh at her pun, she added "You know what? I feel like you'd make a really great princess. We could really use you and your friends in the fight against the Horde."

"Thanks," Steven said. "I'd really like to help, but I've got my own problems to deal with here on Earth. Homeworld hasn't made any moves recently, but you never know. Now that I think about it, the Princess Alliance would really help against the Diamonds.

"If this Keldor guy is everything you say he is, hopefully we can get the best of both worlds," Frosta said. "Literally."

Steven glanced over at the Staff of Keldor, which he had leaned against Greg's van. "I sure hope he is," he said.

* * *

Hordak's inner sanctum was filled with the sounds of welding and flashes of lights from the same. Entrapta was working tirelessly on a new suit for the Horde commander, intent on making it better than the old one in every way.

"We can't afford to underestimate the Gems _or_ the princesses this time around," she explained. "If you have to fight them head-on again, it's best that you're prepared."

"I don't see what was so wrong with my old armor," he said. "Those Crystal Gems merely caught me off-guard. If I hadn't been distracted, I would have slaughtered them."

"But with this new armor, it won't matter," Entrapta said. "With my upgrades, you'll destroy everyone in your way. I'll turn you into an unstoppable engine of mayhem!" Entrapta couldn't help but cackle at this, before quickly regaining her composure. "...sorry."

"Hmm, that does sound appealing," Hordak said. "But tell me, why is it necessary that _she_ be here?"

'She' referred to Scorpia, who was fiddling with some devices within Hordak's sanctum. Imp futilely tried to shoo her away from the important machines, as she was too preoccupied with how cute the tiny critter was.

"Oh, Scorpia," Entrapta said. "She's my honorary lab assistant."

"And how long has this been the case?" asked Hordak.

Entrapta just shrugged and returned to work.

"I prefer to think of myself as just a lab assistant. Nothing 'honorary' about it," Scorpia said. "So, what's this new suit supposed to do, anyway?"

"That is none of your concern," Hordak said.

At the same time as him, Entrapta said "Well, we're about to find out! Hang on, let me just fit these two wires into place, and...done! Let's see how it looks!"

Entrapta backed up to admire her handiwork. This armor was much sleeker than Hordak's old set, but still looked just as powerful. Red and blue highlights contrasted nicely with the gunmetal of the main body, which was all topped off with a pair of red shoulder-pads. A pink data crystal was located at the collar, which powered the suit.

"Well? What do you think?" asked Entrapta.

Hordak admired his new physique. "I think...I feel stronger than I've ever felt," he said. "Stronger even than when I was Horde Prime's right hand."

Entrapta clapped happily. "I'm glad! The armor combines Horde machinery with First Ones tech for maximum power and interface ability. It's bonded to your genetic signature, so it acts as though it's part of your body! Oh, wait, let me show you the new features!" She ran to his side, aiming his arm towards a wall. "Now, push forward with your palm."

Hordak opened his fist to see a disc located on his palm. Energy flowed from the crystal down his arm, causing this disc to glow.

Entrapta placed her hair in front of Scorpia. "We may want to step back."

A beam of red energy shot forth from Hordak's palm. The beam streaked through the air, detonating its target in a spectacular explosion. Fragments of smoldering metal littered the room in the wake of this display of raw power.

A grin spread across Hordak's viseage. "Yes...This power is..._exquisite_."

"That's not all!" said Entrapta. "Now clench your fist and flick your arm to the side!" She demonstrated.

Hordak repeated the action, causing a blade made of red light to emerge from his wrist. He examined this weapon with silent awe before trying it out. Various metal tubes and cables littered around the lab were sliced in half like a hot knife through butter.

"Entrapta, you've outdone yourself," he said.

"Uh, wait, we're not finished just yet!"

"There's more?" said Scorpia.

"Yes!" she cried. She produced an elastic collar with an elaborate bauble on the front. She ran over to Imp, eventually managing to place this device around his neck after much fuss on his part. "Okay, now press that button!"

Hordak found the button Entrapta was referring to, located above his left shoulder. Upon doing so, a lens appeared over his left eye. Through this screen he saw an image of Entrapta with himself in the background. It seemed the suit was connected with the device she had placed on Imp.

"So? What do you think?" she asked hopefully.

Hordak took another moment to admire the armor. "You have exceeded my expectations yet again, Entrapta," she said. Imp flew over to him, perching on his master's arm. "Now, the Rebellion stands no chance against us." He turned to leave. "You have more than done enough for today, but if you wish to get started on the portal, I won't stop you." With that, he was gone.

Entrapta was over the moon. "Did you hear that?" he asked Scorpia. "I've never seen him so happy before!"

"Yeah, he did seem a lot less growl-y just then," Scorpia said. "It's a nice change of pace."

"It is," Entrapta agreed. "With any luck, now we can put all of our efforts into winning the war!" However, Entrapta's joy was short-lived. Her expression of glee slowly shifted into one of apprehension, possibly even fear of sorrow. She pondered something that had been haunting her for a while. "Scorpia?" she said eventually.

The Force Captain had turned to leave, turning back upon hearing her name spoken. "Huh? What's up?"

"Are we...are we the bad guys?"

Scorpia paused to consider this. "Bad guys...you know, I don't _think_ so, but…"

"But what?" Entrapta asked.

"Look, we're at war. And in wars, people...get hurt. There doesn't really have to be a 'good' or 'bad' side. That's why I don't really hate any of those rebellion guys. They're just people in a war.

"A war that we aim to win," Hordak said, having returned. "Do not think of our conflict in a matter of good and evil. Think of it in a matter of victors and losers. And make certain which you will be. We cannot afford to be sympathetic towards those we intend to subjugate. That way our emotions will get in our way, and our efforts will falter. Thus, they will use our emotions against us." He turned back to Scorpia. "Perhaps you should consider being less...emotional."

"Me? Emotional? All due respect, Lord Hordak, but I wouldn't call myself _emotional_. For example, it's been at least a year since the last time I cried myself to sleep!" she said proudly.

"My statement rings true," Hordak said. "The less though we give to morality, the more successful we become. For the good of Etheria, we cannot afford to categorize ourselves," he said to Entrapta.

The scientist nodded. "Got it. No good or evil, just us and them."

"Exactly," Hordak said. "Now, the sooner we reclaim the Staff of Keldor, the sooner we can take both Etheria and Earth." Once again, Hordak exited his sanctum, leaving the two of them alone.

Scorpia was about to leave, before she saw Entrapta staring at her reflection in a glass tank. "You alright?"

Entrapta looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah, of course!" The pair of them exited the room, although nagging doubts still lingered in Entrapta's head as she remembered Bow's words.


	16. Prepare for Takeoff

Chapter Sixteen: Prepare for Takeoff

* * *

"I don't understand it," Catra said as she paced back and forth within Entrapta's workshop. "I gave Hordak the best opportunity we've ever had to take Etheria, and all he cares about is that stupid staff. With it and the princesses stuck on Earth, there's no one standing in our way. But does he capitalize on that? No. No, he can't just win, he has to win _his_ way! ...Are you even listening?"

Entrapta was currently building a mockup of a warp pad. Because Gem tech and First Ones tech were so similar, creating such a thing, while no easy feat, was certainly within her skillset. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I heard you. I'm sorry, it's just that I'm a bit busy with this thing right now. Oh!" Entrapta turned Catra's attention to her robotic companion, who stood by her master's side. "Why don't you tell Emily? I don't really have anything for her to do right now anyway."

Catra looked at the bot with exasperation. "Entrapta, there's no way I'm talking to your robot."

"Aw, come on, it can be really helpful to vent sometimes, no matter who it's towards!" Entrapta urged. "Besides, Emily's a really good listener. She'll care about what you have to say, I promise!"

The robot looked up at Catra with her unblinking optic, looking as expectant as a being without facial features could. Catra groaned, relenting. "Fine. But you better not be doing this to mock me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Entrapta responded.

Catra stared at the reprogrammed bot, who stared back. Talking to a robot-she felt like a real schmuck. "So...Emily…" The bot chirped back in reply.

Catra continued. "Do-do you ever feel like you aren't appreciated?" Whatever Emily responded with, Catra did not understand. She assumed she had answered in the negative, given Entrapta's fondness for the bot. "Well, I feel like that all the time!" The Force Captain resumed her pacing, having grown agitated once more. "Nobody's ever realized the sheer amount of effort I put in to this cause. Granted, most of it was just so they'd give me a break once in a while, but still! None of the other cadets cut me any slack, Shadow Weaver was always on my case, and don't even get me started on Adora!"

Emily quizzically tilted her head-which was also her body-to the side at the mention of this name.

Catra stared. "You know, Adora! She-Ra! Princess of Power, enemy number one to the Horde!" Emily seemed to have never heard of her. "You seriously don't know who Adora is? Entrapta, I think your bot has a defective memory unit or something."

"Not likely," Entrapta said. "Actually, on second thought, that's very likely. I'll make a note of that. In the meantime, could you get her up to speed? Thanks!"

Catra placed her palm against her forehead, groaning. "Alright, let's make this quick...Adora used to be a Cadet, like me," she told Emily, speaking slowly. "One day, she found a stupid magic sword in the middle of the woods, and decided to leave the Horde for some idiots she'd _known for less than a day_…" Catra caught her breath, calming herself down from the angering memories. "Okay...okay. I'm good now. Are you getting any of this?"

Emily seemed to understand, but Catra couldn't be sure, as she couldn't speak.

Catra rolled her eyes, sitting down on a nearby crate. "Before she left, she...she was the only one who really cared about me," she continued, more to herself that anything. "I thought that once I climbed my way through the ranks, I'd finally get the respect I deserve. But I guess not…" Catra laid down on the crate, staring at the ceiling. "You know what, Emily? I think I should be in charge here. If I was calling the shots, we'd have the rebellion begging for mercy in _days_. I guarantee you I could be a better lord that Hordak. _Scorpia_ could be a better lord than Hordak!"

"Oh! Speaking of Scorpia, could you bring her here?" asked Entrapta. "I'm almost done setting this thing up, and she isn't gonna wanna miss our first test!"

"Mmm," Catra said, hopping to her feet. "This'd better be worth it."

"Oh, it will!" Entrapta said. She turned to Emily after Catra had left. "Did you get any of that?" Emily beeped.

"Scorpia, what are you up to?" Catra asked. "Entrapta wants us to watch her turn on the portal thing, you coming?"

Scorpia poked her head out from her room. "Of course! I don't want to miss the first test!"

With that, the duo walked back towards Entrapta's lab in silence. Scorpia wasn't sure, but Catra' demeanor today seemed quite prickly-more so than usual, that is.

"You alright, Wildcat?" she asked. "You look like something's bothering you."

"I'm fine," she said. "Let's just get that stupid staff back so we can take over Etheria already."

Hmm," Scorpia said. She continued after a little bit. "Are you still upset about Hordak snapping at you earlier? Because I think he's calmed down a bit-"

"_Scorpia_," Catra said. "If I say I'm fine, I'm _fine_. Okay?"

"I…" She relented, nodding. "Whatever you say, Wildcat."

"Good. Now let's get this over with."

Entrapta had fully completed the machine by the time the two returned. Another Horde bot sat on the platform, acting as the test subject. "Perfect, just in time!" Entrapta said. "Are you prepared to travel through the very fabric of space and time!?"

"Whoo!" cried Scorpia.

"Haven't we already done that?" Catra said. "Like, several ti-nevermind, let's just get on with it."

"Okay!" said Entrapta. "Hold onto your...whatever's on your heads!" She punched some buttons on a console in front of her, causing the portal machine to whirr to life. "And we are connected! We can now-oh, my…"

"What?" asked Scorpia. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing is wrong whatsoever!" said Entrapta. "Everything is the exact opposite of wrong!"

"Uh…'Right?'"

"Right! Now, I knew this machine would give us access to the warp network, but I assumed it would be restricted to Earth. But this...we have access to every warp pad on every Gem territory across the entire _universe_!"

Scorpia was in awe. "That. Is. Incredible," she said softly.

"Yeah, it's great," Catra said. "Can we just focus on Earth for now? I thought one planet was a headache, it's bad enough we have to deal with two now."

"That's a good idea," Entrapta said. "Besides, I don't think the local Gems would take too kindly to an unexpected visit...Okay, locked on Earth! Now the only issue is finding Beach City. Well, here goes nothing! Warp platform trial, fire one!"

The device hummed to life around the bot. Sparks of blue energy crackled around it and lit up the room. Before long, the robot disappeared in a flash of light.

Everyone had shielded their eyes from the flash. "Did it work?" asked Catra.

"Let's see," said Entrapta. She consulted a handheld pad that showed the bot's perspective. The warp pad it had arrived at was located on some sort of rocky cliffside surrounded by a vast desert. "Okay, not quite. But, no problem! Warp platform trial, fire two!"

The warp pad activated once more. This time, the bot arrived at a colorful landscape alive with plants and animals. Bubbles rose from the seafloor as fish swam in front of the camera.

"Uh, unless they have flying fish on Earth, I don't think we're in the right spot," said Scorpia.

"No, I don't believe they do," said Entrapta. "Okay then, fire three!"

* * *

"How we looking up there, Blondie?" Bismuth shouted.

"Looking good!" Adora shouted back. The panel was firmly in place atop the ship. She hopped down to the ground. "We almost ready to fly?"

Bismuth laughed. "This ship look space-worthy to you, Blondie?"

Adora stared at the ship. "Well, I've never seen a spaceship before, to my knowledge, so I'd say...maybe?"

"Hardly," Peridot said. "By my calculations, I'd say that the ship is about eighty percent complete. Only a few minor touch-ups left. We should be ready to fly by the evening."

"Lemonade break!" Steven called, exiting his house carrying a tray of the icy beverages. "Can't expect you to build a whole spaceship without a break!"

The Etherians (and Amethyst) took a glass. "Thanks, Steven," Bow said.

"Yes, thank you," Perfuma said. "You're so generous!"

"Aw, it's no big deal," Steven said. "I just like to help out!"

This gentle scene was interrupted by a crashing noise from within Steven's home. Everyone's attention was drawn to this sound.

"What was that?" Glimmer asked. "Steven, so you have any pets?"

"Yeah, but Cat Steven was outside when I was in there, and I haven't seen Lion in a while," said Steven.

Their question as to who, or what, was causing these noises was answered when a Horde robot smashed through the front door of the temple, before it ran towards the team.

"Horde bot!" shouted Glimmer. "Get it!"

The Crystal Gems had that covered. The bot never knew what hit it.

* * *

"Wow. That was brutal," said Scorpia. "Good thing Emily wasn't looking."

"Yeah, that was pretty bad," said Entrapta. "Wait, hang on, I still have a feed!"

The Horde bot had been mostly destroyed, but it's recording was still functional. The video was just a sideways view of the ocean through a cracked lens, it was still picking up audio.

"How can this have happened?" Bow could be heard saying. "How did the Horde find us?"

"A better question would be, how did the Horde get to us?" said Frosta. "I thought Lapis destroyed the tower."

"They must have found some way to access the warp network," Pearl said. "We have to get this ship up and running right now!"

"Should I go get Lars, or-" Steven said, before Garnet spoke up.

"No time. We'll come pick him up later. Right now, we need to get to Denebria as soon as possible."

"Hey! The bot's still active!" shouted Glimmer. Footsteps were heard in the sand as she ran over to it.

"Does this mean we don't have time for lemonade?" asked Sea Hawk, just before the feed went dark.

"Aaaaaand, that's all she wrote," Entrapta said. "So, another bot?"

"No, wait a minute," Catra said. "Rewind that, I want to hear where they said they're going."

Entrapta did so. "Um, somewhere called...Denebria? Where's that?"

"I don't know," Catra said, "but if they're headed there, it's probably some sort of Gem planet. And if it's a Gem planet...we have access to it."

"That's right, the warp platform!" said Scorpia. "We can use that to go to Den-Deben-Denen-wherever that place is!"

Entrapta typed some commands into the console. "Hmm...there _is_ a planet here called Denebria. There's only one warp pad on it, though. I guess that's where we're going!"

"Alright, time for another mission!" Scorpia said. "What's the plan, Wildcat?"

"We beat them to the punch," Catra said. "If we get to Denebria first, we'll have time to set up defenses and overwhelm them. Then, Hordak gets his staff, we crush the Rebellion, and everything works out for everyone."

"Hang on, I've just got to finish this side project I've been working on first!" Entrapta called from deeper within the workshop.

"Side project?" said Catra. "What exactly are you working on back there?"

Entrapta stared at a large humanoid figure obscured by shadow. Some manner of machine that she had been working on. "Oh, you'll see soon enough!" Entrapta said. "Let's just say I'm making something that will solve our She-Ra problem!"


	17. Mystacor

Chapter Seventeen: Mystacor

* * *

Within the Hall of Sorcerers, the sorcerer known as Castaspella paced back and forth in agitation. Beside her rested her sister-in-law, Queen Angella, who was busy collecting her thoughts.

"What about Dryl?" asked Castaspella. "Glimmer used to be friends with that Entrapta girl. Have we checked there?"

Angella shook her head. "Dryl is a Horde territory now. If they were captured, either they would have broken free by now, or the Horde would have called for a ransom."

"We don't know that for sure!" Castaspella said. "For all we know, they're trying to make us believe that the princesses have vanished! In the resulting upheaval that causes, they will then swoop in and claim the unprotected kingdoms."

"Casta, I've heard enough!" Angella said, walking over to the other woman. "I find it highly improbable that four princesses, my daughter among them, as well as the She-Ra and two other of the Rebellion's finest fighters, could be kidnapped by the Horde with absolutely no one witnessing it or hearing anything about it! Now, instead of baselessly guessing, we need to find some way of locating them that doesn't involve days worth of fruitless searches!"

"I've told you already, my magic can only go so far!" Castaspella said. "I've tried every kind of locating spell in the book, but they don't seem to be anywhere on Etheria! Now if we-hang on…" Something seemed to occur to her.

"What? What is it?" asked Angella.

"What if I can't find them on Etheria...because they aren't _on_ Etheria?" said Castaspella. "The Horde has found their way to Earth once before, who's to say they haven't done so again?"

Angella paused to consider this. "Let us assume this is true. If so, how can we be expected to recover them?"

"Perhaps we will need to consult the locals…"

* * *

"That was incredible!" shouted Rhodonite. "Do it again!"

Rhodonite, as well as the other off-colors, were all watching a display of magic from a performing sorcerer. Sat beside several other Mystacorans, they witnessed this magician create all manner of magical constructs and spectacular effects to tell a wonderful fantastic story. She had just created a colorful mosaic of She-Ra, which had gloriously slain a gigantic dragon.

It had been a few weeks since the off-colors had been offered sanctum in Mystacor. They had instantly been accepted by the populace, a far cry from what they were used to on Homeworld. While they certainly wanted to reunite with Lars and the Crystal Gems, there was a certain peacefulness to this place that each of them could get used to. Perhaps when Lars returned, they could...no, that was silly. Right?

While everyone present was enjoying the show, there was one in particular who had her mind occupied elsewhere: Padparadscha. The show was certainly enjoyable, but she found herself unable to focus-more so than usual-due to a recurring vision, some tickle in the back of her mind. Her future vision was usually late, but the visions that came to her were always accurate. This sensation was like a smaller version of future vision: it only let her know that _something_ was happening, but not _what_ was happening. Something like this had never occurred before. Whatever it was trying to tell her, she felt compelled in a certain direction.

Padparadscha looked up at her friends. Fluorite, Rhodonite, and the Rutiles were all so enamored by the show-it would be rude to interrupt them. The peach-colored Sapphire stood up and gently moved through the crowd towards where this invisible force seemed to want her to go.

Was it just her, or did Mystacor seem oddly empty today? There were a few people at the show, but nowhere near everyone on the entire floating island. Then again, she had never been to this area before. And it did seem to be long-abandoned…

It was then she saw the tail end of something red and wispy, like a cloak, disappear into one of the derelict houses. Much to the tiny Gem's chagrin, this same house was where her future vision seemed to be leading her. Reluctantly, she quietly crept into the building.

The house, dusty and covered with cobwebs, looked as though nobody had lived in it in years. And yet, someone had clearly gone in here before her. But who could it be? Perhaps her 'past vision' would give her some insight into-

That was when it hit. A vision, more in-depth than any Padparadscha had yet received. She witnessed the treachery of Shadow Weaver: her casting of the Spell of Obtainment, her betrayal of the Rebellion, her molding of Adora and Catra to follow in her cunning footsteps. She pressed her hands against her mouth to suppress a shout.

She was alone in this house with this terrible woman.

* * *

The magic show had come to an end, and the audience was dispersing. Rhodonite turned to who she believed sat just beside her. "Well? Did you have fun, too, Padparadscha?" However, her question was not answered, as she was not present. "Padparadscha?" The fusion stood up, scanning around for the missing Gem.

"Iiiiis sooommethiiing the matteeer?" asked Fluorite.

"You didn't see Padparadscha walk away, did you?" said Rhodonite. "She was right here, I don't know where she went."

"She can't have gone far," said the rightmost Rutile. "That is, if she even is gone," her leftmost twin added.

The three of them looked around, calling for the missing Gem, and asking if any of the audience members had seen her leave. It was around this time that Castaspella and Angella exited the great hall and made towards the trio.

While Castaspella had intended to ask them if they knew anything about the current status of the missing princesses, but found the trio to be agitated by something of their own. "Um, is something the matter?" she asked.

"Yes, we can't find Padparadscha," explained Rhodonite. "We were all watching this lady perform, and she must have wandered off somewhere."

"Is everyone going missing these days?" said Angella in exasperation.

"Do you think you could help us find her?" asked left Rutile. "If it's not too much trouble, that is," her right twin added.

"Of course, of course," said Castaspella. "She can't have gone far. Perhaps someone here saw her leave." She waved over the attention of a nearby sorcerer. "You there! Yes, excuse me, sir. You didn't see one of these ladies' compatriots wander off sometime during the show, did you? She's about this tall, peach in color…"

"Oh yeah, the Gem," he said. "She walked down that way a few minutes ago." He pointed in the direction of several houses. "I just figured she was using the washroom or something."

"Thank you for your help, young man!" said Castaspella. "You see? That wasn't so hard. Now, let's go collect your little friend. We actually have some questions for all of you once we find her."

All five of them walked towards the neighborhood. "I'd be happy to answer any of your questions I can, but I can't speak for Padparadscha," Rhodonite explained. "She always gets so caught up in her past vision, it can seem like she's living her life a few seconds behind everyone else. This isn't the first time she's wandered off, either. I'm just glad this place is so much safer than Homeworld."

Castaspella, however, was focusing on something else-something incredibly unnerving, judging from her disturbed expression.

The Rutiles shivered. "Anybody else feel a chill?" the left one asked.

"Shadow Weaver," Castaspella said quietly. "This was where she lived. This was-oh no. Hurry!" She hurried off down the street, with the others running after her.

* * *

This was not good. Not only had Padparadscha gotten turned around within this derelict house, but she was certain that she was not alone. And solitude was definitely preferable to being alone with her guest. Nevertheless, her future vision pulled her forwards, into a room lit by an unnatural purple light.

The Sapphire gingerly peered through the doorway, where her worries were confirmed. Though viewed from the back, there was no doubt that this red-robed figure was Shadow Weaver. She stood in front of some manner of sieve, where it appeared she was performing a ritual of some sort, explaining the lights. Padparadscha's future vision stopped compelling her forward, now allowing her to stand still and witness this sight.

And stand still she would have, had a shadowy figure not risen from the sieve, causing the Gem to gasp.

Quick as a flash, Shadow Weaver turned around. Immediately upon seeing that she was not alone, sent an arrow of pure darkness towards the Gem. Padparadscha pulled back in the nick of time, as the projectile tore through the wall behind her. She took off running around the corner and down a flight of stairs.

As she descended the stairwell, she received a premonition: Shadow Weaver would notice her and attack. ...Curse this past vision! Her powers of no use to her now, Padparadscha had to find her own way to safety. Fortunately, she soon found her way to the front door of the home.

Unfortunately, before she could open it, a flurry of shadows blocked her path. The Sapphire skidded to a halt before the dark wall. Making matters far, far worse, Shadow Weaver herself appeared to loom over the helpless Gem.

"Nowhere left to run," the sorceress growled. The darkness closed in around Padparadscha, threatening to snuff out her light for good. However, another tingling sensation graced the Sapphire's thoughts. Rather than compel her to move, this one simply told her to stay in place.

Sure enough, Padparadscha was saved when a blast of bure light cut through both the door and the darkness, colliding with Shadow Weaver and sending her against the wall.

"Pads!" she heard Rhodonite shout. She felt the fusion's four arms wrap around her and lift her off the ground. "We were so worried! Why did you run off like that?"

"I...I don't know," was all she could say. She truly didn't know why-this sensation was something she had never felt before, at least not in this capacity. "I think it was my future vision."

Meanwhile, Angella still had her light powers at the ready, and Castaspella had prepared a spell. "You!" snarled the latter. "How dare you return to this sacred place?"

Shadow Weaver chucked: a deep, powerful sound. "I assume you mean Mystacor? I'm sure you aren't referring to this home. After all, it is mine."

"It was, before you betrayed Micah and joined the Horde," said Angella. "Now, what have you done with my daughter?"

Another chuckle. "I've done nothing with anyone's daughter. Why, after Catra usurped me and I was imprisoned, I figured it was best to cut my ties with the Horde. Perhaps I can help you look for your dear Glimmer?"

"You!? You almost killed Padparadscha, you...you...evil traitor!" shouted Rhodonite.

"Now now, my dear, let us not resort to name calling," said Shadow Weaver. "Especially if you are poor at it." She made to walk towards the off-colors, but Queen Angella stepped between them.

"Give me one good reason not to destroy you right now," the queen said.

"You want a good reason?" replied Shadow Weaver, amused. "How about...because you won't be able to?" With that, Shadow Weaver almost seemed to melt into the darkness that surrounded her. Angella fired another magical blast, but Shadow Weaver had completely vanished.

The off-colors gradually regained their bearings as light returned to the room. "Thaaaat waaaaas...inteeenssse," said Fluorite.

"It was, it was," said Rhodonite, clutching both Padparadscha and her chest with equal tightness. "Who was that horrible wraith, anyway?"

"A former friend turned to darkness," Castaspella answered. She turned to Angella. "Do you think she was telling the truth about not taking the princesses?"

"It is hard to say," said Angella. "That woman can lie just as easily as speak truthfully."

"Um, excuse me?" said left-Rutile. "Sorry to interrupt, but did something happen to the princesses?" right-Rutile asked.

Queen Angella and Castaspella exchanged glances. "You see," Castaspella explained, "now we need _your_ help to find someone…"

* * *

Elsewhere, far from Mystacor, Shadow Weaver materialized. She looked down at her palm, summoning a few small wisps of shadow.

"Not perfect, but it will have to do for now," she said to herself. With that, she walked down the path she found herself on, admittedly unsure of exactly where to go or what to do next.

Unbenounced to her, another party was also aware that her powers had returned. Concealed by the darkness of the woods, a figure watched as she slinked away. A pair of slitted red eyes gazed from the darkness, their vision only cut off when a pair of membranes closed and opened across them.


	18. Into the Unknown

Chapter Eighteen: Into the Unknown

* * *

It had taken many long afternoons and almost as many sleepless nights, but the Gem vessel had finally been completed. It was a bit more ramshackle than it had been when it first arrived on Earth, but Peridot and Bismuth had assured everyone that it was indeed space-worthy. It was no luxury cruiser, but it would get the job done.

"I'm telling you, it's perfectly safe," Bismuth said. Perfuma, however, wasn't so sure. "C'mon, what's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, I'm not exactly an expert on outer space," Perfuma said, "but given what little I do know, _everything_ is the worst thing that could happen…"

"Oh, really, humans give space travel so much more apprehension than it deserves," said Pearl. "Of course, much of that is because of the human body's vulnerability to the vacuum of space. It's probably the least habitable place for organics." Perfuma shrank inwards upon hearing this. "I mean, you have the searing heat, the unspeakable cold, the deadly radiation, the crushing lack of pressure…" With each horror of space Pearl listed, Perfuma's already-wide eyes grew wider.

Bow interrupted in the nick of time. "Okay, how about instead of focusing on all the ways space can kill us, why don't we focus on all the nice things about space instead? Like, for example, just look at all of those stars!"

It was just past sundown, and the night sky was filled with hundreds of the shining beacons. While the Etherians had certainly heard of stars before, many had never seen them with their own eyes. Despite the previously-listed dangers of space travel, the carpet of twinkling lights above them was certainly inviting.

A much smaller pastiche of these lights was visible on the beach-Adora was trying to figure out how to work her sword's apparent ability to chart a course through the stars. She waved the Sword of Protection around like a baton as she flew through virtual space from Earth to Denebria and everywhere in between.

"Hold on, you went too far," Peridot helpfully navigated. "Go back to that nebula there and head west."

"It's outer space, it doesn't _have_ a west!" shouted Adora. She awkwardly tilted the sword this way and that like she was playing a video game with motion controls. And like she had never heard of motion controls before. She hadn't, but that's another issue entirely.

"Hey, have _you_ ever been to space?" countered Peridot. "I was running missions for Yellow Diamond before you were even born, so I think I have a bit more authority on that topic. Wait, hold on!" Adora had been flailing around randomly, hoping to stumble upon their destination by chance. And she had. "This one right here, this one's Denebria!"

"Um, how exactly do you know that?" asked Steven.

"Because, Steven, I specifically remember when Homeworld tried to colonize it! ...Or rather, I saw a recording of when they did. It _did_ happen several million years ago, after all. Either way, because of my perfect memory, I know exactly what it looks like. And this is it!" She examined the holographic map. "Oh, this isn't so bad, it's only two galaxies away. You'll get there in no time!"

"So, if you have perfect memory, why didn't you remember who Keldor was?" Lapis said dryly.

"It's a work in progress, okay!" shouted Peridot. "Anyway, I'm sure you'll be able to find your way there. Pearl can probably find it."

"Wait, Peridot, aren't you coming with us?" said Steven.

"I'd love to, really, but I think I'd like to stay here this time around," she said, looking at Lapis. "We've got some catching up to do." Lapis smiled, causing Peridot to smile as well."

"Come on, we going or what?" shouted Glimmer. "The sooner we take off, the sooner we can get home!"

"She's right, it's time," Garnet said. "Steven, you got the staff?"

"Got it!" said Steven, holding the Staff of Keldor above his head. "Ready to head out when you are!"

Steven, Connie, Pearl, Adora, and Garnet were all carried aboard the ship by a boarding pod that materialized around them. Amethyst, Glimmer, Sea Hawk, Mermista, and Frosta had already gone aboard.

"Look, would it make you feel any better if I went along with you?" Bismuth asked Perfuma.

"Well, I suppose so," the princess answered. "You do seem to know quite a bit about spaceships."

"Alright, then let's go!" said Bismuth. "Hey guys! Change of plans, I'm heading out too!" she shouted to Lapis and Peridot. "You two have fun without me!"

Bismuth, Perfuma, and Bow were the last to board the ship. And with that, the party was complete. With Pearl at the helm, the handship slowly rose into the air with a gentle hum. Slowly it lifted higher and higher, before disappearing into the upper atmosphere and beyond. All the while, Lapis and Peridot waved as their friends flew away, the latter much more enthusiastically than the former. Once the ship had vanished, Lapis said "Well, that's that. Now what?"

Peridot, who was still waving, stopped. "Lapis, you don't think they're in any danger, do you?"

Lapis shrugged. "I'unno."

* * *

Space was truly a majestic sight. Everyone marvelled at the sight of stars and planets whizzing by at hyper-light speed.

"Pretty great, isn't it?" said Bismuth, chuckling. "Yeah, I remember my first time on a ship." The large Gem strolled up to the front window, staring at the stars passing by. "Man...it's been too long since I've seen this. All those years when I coulda been out there...but that's all behind us now. How you holdin' up, P?"

"Never better!" replied Pearl. The Gem was linked up with the ship, flying it with nothing other than her mind. "Adora, are we close?"

"Uh...maybe?" Adora was still getting used to her sword's new feature. "We're either almost halfway there, or we're about to crash into a sun. Wait, I think it's both. It's both!"

Pearl quickly tilted the ship to the right, avoiding a white dwarf that had come out of nowhere. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief, except for Perfuma, who breathed several in rapid succession.

"So, what do you think the deal is with the Sword's new map thing?" asked Glimmer. "You'd think we'd have noticed it before now."

"I think it has something to do with where the Sword is," said Bow. "Despondos didn't have anything in it aside from Etheria, so she didn't need a map like this. Or maybe it couldn't connect to the map when it was in Despondos."

"Sounds about right," said Glimmer.

With the incredible FTL capabilities Gem ships offered, it was only a matter of minutes before they arrived at the planet Denebria. A touch smaller than Earth though a bit further from its star, the planet was colored in splotches of purple and deep blue, with no clouds in sight.

"Steven, you said Keldor's old temple was on a cliff near some injectors?" asked Pearl.

"That's right," Steven replied.

"There's only one spot on the planet with any kind of Gem technology. I'll bring us down there." Pearl lowered the ship into the planet's atmosphere and towards their destination.

From the looks of it, Denebria was completely, utterly, lifeless. It seemed that Keldor's claim about having to drain it of life to fend off Homeworld held some truth to it after all.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked Frosta. "It looks so...bleak."

"It's right, alright," said Adora. "According to the sword, this is Denebria."

"What was the point of protecting it if he was going to kill it in the process?" said Perfuma. "It looks like Keldor did just as much damage as the Gems would have done."

"Just about," said Garnet.

"He did it so that his followers could escape," said Steven. "He gave up his life for them." He looked down at the purple scepter in his hands. "And now we can give him back his life."

It wasn't long after that the handship made landfall. The team set out across the Denebrian wilderness, with Steven leading the way.

"It's this way!" he called back to his friends. "This is where I talked to Keldor in my dreams!"

"Steven, slow down!" urged Connie. "We wanna see this guy get resurrected too, ya know!"

The temple was in sight-Keldor's final resting place was near. "Hurry up, everyone, we're almost-" Steven's voice cut out. He had been silenced by the sight that lie ahead of the heroes. They were not alone on Denebria.

The Horde had beaten them there.

"Catra!" shouted Adora, standing between her arch-enemy and Steven. The Crystal Gems and Princess Alliance took up combat stances as well.

"Hey Adora," said Catra with a grin. Beside her on the temple steps were, as always, Scorpia and Entrapta. Beside the latter lay a large, rectangular metal crate.

"What are you doing here!?" yelled Pearl. "How did you get here before us?"

"_That's_ what you're worried about?" said Catra, sneering. "All we did was hijack one of your little warp pads. But that's the least of your concerns." She held out her clawed hands. "Let's cut straight to the point: I'm gonna need that staff back."

"And why should we give it to you?" said Amethyst. "There's like ten of us and three of you."

"Make that four," said Catra. "Entrapta? Would you like to show our guests you new toy?"

"Would I ever!" said the purple-haired princess. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you my most powerful creation yet!" She ran a hand down the crate, which began to open with a hiss of steam. No, not open: unfold. The crate was her creation itself, shifted into a more compact form.

"It's no secret that She-Ra is the most powerful force the Rebellion has," Entrapta said as her machine took form. "So, I decided if we were gonna win, we needed something capable of taking her down. An anti-She-Ra weapon, if you will."

The machine had taken in a humanoid stance. The thing was at least ten feet tall, with an imposing build. It was the same light green in color as the Horde's other bots, with stripes of red running down its limbs and sides. With earth-shaking footfalls, the robot slowly walked down the stairs towards the alliance.

"This guy takes the transformative power of the E.K.S. and cranks it up to eleven! I used up just about every last bit of First Ones tech I had to bring him to life! I give you...the Multi-Bot!"

A flash of light was emitted from the robot's crimson visor, accompanied by a foghorn-like drone. One of its arms shifted into an energy cannon, while a long metal blade extended from the other one. Its focus was locked on Adora.

Catra grinned. "This is gonna be good…"

* * *

Peridot gestured to the Gem flying above her. "Keep going...almost there...perfect! Lower it in!"

At Peridot's direction, Lapis slowly lowered the barn back into its place on the farm. "There, that should do it." She landed down next to the green Gem to admire her handiwork. "It's good to be back home."

"It's good for home to be back!" Peridot said. She ran towards the door, only to stop halfway there. "Hey, Lapis? You think Steven and the others are doing okay?"

"I'm sure they're fine," Lapis said reassuringly. "You're the one who said the ship is safe to fly. What's there to be worried about?"

"What I'm worried about is that I don't know what I'm worried about," Peridot said.

"Uh...what?"

"Ever since Steven said they were going to find 'Keldor' on planet 'Denebria,' warning bells have been going off in my head. I know I've heard both of those names before, but I just can't remember where from!"

"Well, you must have read a lot of reports," said Lapis. "Maybe you heard them from there."

Peridot wracked her brain to try and remember. "Reports, reports…" She suddenly gasped.

* * *

Hundreds of years ago…

Peridot silently went through dozens of various reports on potential new colonies, insufficient Gem batches, shipping manifests, and everything in between.

_It isn't like I don't enjoy this_, she thought. _It's just that I wish I could get out into the field more often. Like these guys._

She pulled up a video file entitled 'Planet Denebria: Unsuitable for Colonization.' _Hmm. This place doesn't look so bad. I wonder why colonization was cancelled_?

Out of curiosity, she played the video. It showed an early Era-1 Kindergarten in its early stages. However, something seemed to have the Gems in the video agitated.

"We have a problem, commander!" one of the Gems yelled. "Something out here...it's tearing through our troops!"

Intrigued, Peridot now skipped ahead to the problem in question. Indeed, it certainly seemed to be a problem: a purple-robed figure hung low in the air, surrounded by a thick miasma of purple energy. He laughed as energy was drawn towards him from the plants and even a few other people near him, reducing them to dessicated husks in the process. But these husks were still standing.

"You will not take this world!" said the figure in a booming voice. "I am Keldor! Last disciple of Skeletor! Sole heir to the throne of Grayskull! Rightful ruler of the known universe!" Bolts of this energy tore through any resistance sent his way, as did the dead bodies he had placed under his control. "Your reign is nearing its end! Soon, I will conquer all! I WILL-"

It was at this point Peridot shut off the video, rolling her eyes. "Sheesh. Who does this guy think he is? 'Conquer all,' pfft, what a joke! How'd that work out for you?" Peridot slid the video aside, and continued with her work without a second thought.

* * *

Back in the present…

"...I remember now…" said Peridot quietly.

"Huh?" said Lapis.

Peridot ran over to her. "Lapis, we need to go, right now!"

"Go?" she said. "Go where?"

"To Denebria!" Peridot said. "There's no time, I'll tell you on the way. Listen, Steven made a huge mistake! We have to warn him before it's too late!"


	19. Multi-Bot

Chapter Nineteen: Multi-Bot

* * *

It was Entrapta's machine that made the first move. The cybernetic behemoth lunged towards the heroes with surprising speed, its blade extended. The blade crashed into the ground where Adora had been standing moments prior, sending rocks and chunks of earth flying.

"For the Honor of Grayskull!" In a flash of light, Adora transformed into She-Ra, retaliating against the robot with a strike from her own blade. Quicker than she could blink, Multi-Bot raised its own sword, blocking hers. Before she could respond, Adora was thrown back several meters by a blast from the machine's cannon. Shaking off the impact, she stood up to see the robot marching towards her.

"Adora!" cried Glimmer. She was about to run to her friend's side when the latter waved her away.

"Don't! Stay away!" shouted She-Ra. If This machine was a match for her, then Glimmer was out of her league, especially without her powers. "It's too dangerous!"

"We can't just do nothing!" Bow shouted back.

"I know something you can do," said Catra. "How about you give us the Staff, and we'll all head home?"

"Yeah, like it'd be that easy!" said Mermista.

"Wait," said Connie. "If she wants the staff this badly, I think we should give it to her."

"_What_?" said Steven. "Connie, we came all this way, we can't just-"

Connie grabbed onto Steven's shoulders. "Steven, it's okay," she said. She winked at him, obscured from the others. "Trust me."

Steven stood still for a moment, before handing the staff over to Connie. "Okay," he said. "Here." Connie nodded.

"Connie, wait!" Pearl ran forwards, only to be intercepted by Multi-Bot, who blocked the Gem by holding its sword in front of her. Its eye was fixed on Adora.

"Glad to see one of you has some sense," Said Catra. "Good for you, kid. Now hand it over."

"Okay then," said Connie. "You heard her, Steven. Give it to her!"

Connie ducked. Steven's shield whizzed above her, colliding with Catra's. Catra stumbled backward, disoriented by the impact, as her two comrades moved to her sides. In the confusion, Connie took off running behind the temple, and Pearl drew her spear, swinging it at Multi-Bot.

The robot was prepared for this, however. In addition to dodging her swing, another pair of arms appeared from its torso. One of them transformed into a spear, which the robot thrust at Pearl. When she was able to dodge out of the way, Multi-Bot turned its focus towards Connie and the staff.

Steven created another shield. "Garnet! You guys work on taking down the robot, I'll help Connie!"

Multi-Bot's visor began to glow. With a deep, vibrating sound, a large red beam shot from its eye. Steven blocked the beam, but was pushed back by the sheer force. Heat from the laser surrounded him from over the shield.

The beam stopped firing as Garnet collided with Multi-Bot head-on. "You got it!" she shouted back to Steven. Multi-Bot's eye gazed up at its new foe. Its fourth arm shifted into a powerful gauntlet not unlike Garnet's own. Although Garnet blocked, the power of the blow from this weapon knocked her backwards quite a bit.

"Grr, this is taking too long!" Catra said. "Just get that staff already!" She made to run after Connie, but Entrapta stopped her.

"Wait! Don't go out there while Multi-Bot's doing his thing! I didn't exactly have time to program him with facial recognition, so he'll attack anyone on the field!"

"Oh, come on!" shouted Catra. "Can't you just send the robot after it, then?"

"I can try," Entrapta said. "Hey, Multi-Bot! Go get that staff, okay?"

Multi-Bot seemed to register this command, making to go after Connie. Fortunately for her, Amethyst's whip was suddenly lashed around one of the robot's arms. Before it could slice through it, Bismuth appeared to hold back its other arms.

"I got it!" she said. "Do your thing, arrow-boy!"

Bow nocked an electrical arrow with the hopes that it would shut the robot down, and let loose. Whether or not this arrow would have been effective was not to be seen, as it was vaporized in midair by Multi-Bot's cannon. It then used its spear arm to sever Amethyst's whip, and threw Bismuth off of it with a kick. The automaton's next move was for a pair of rocket boosters to emerge from its back, and take flight.

"Oh come on, it can do that!?" Connie shouted. She tried to avoid it, but to no avail. Multi-Bot's cannon arm morphed into an energy whip, which snagged around Connie's waist. She was pulled up to midair where the robot hovered; as she grew nearer, Multi-Bot held out its hand towards the staff. Connie tried to reach for her sword, but it too had been ensnared by the whip. Out of options, Connie scanned the ground for someone to toss the staff to.

"Frosta, catch!" she yelled, chucking the staff towards the young princess. She caught it...but now she was in danger from Multi-Bot as well.

Realizing that his captive no longer held the item he sought, the robot simply let go of Connie and took off after Frosta. Before she hit the ground, she was caught in midair by Steven, who had leapt up to her. The pair slowly descended back to the ground, unharmed.

Frosta, however, was not looking so fortunate. She held onto the staff as Multi-Bot sped towards her through the air. "What am I supposed to do now!?" she shouted.

Before it could reach her, Multi-Bot was intercepted by a blue beam of light from its side, knocking it off course before it could catch the ice princess. She-Ra stood resolute, holding her sword out towards the machine. "Come on, girls!" she said. "And, uh, boys, too. Let's finish this!"

Adora began to glow as the Princess Alliance and Crystal Gems stood behind her. Multi-Bot glowed as well, but in a very different way-it fired another laser from its eye towards the heroes. Adora was undeterred, sending a laser of her own from her sword. The red and blue beams met, pushing against each other, neither able to gain ground on its opponent.

"She's right, let's get him!" said Steven. All of the Crystal Gems ran towards the machine, which was occupied at the moment. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst and Bismuth were each met by a weapon from one of its arms, though Connie was able to make it through. Her sword cut a large gash in the machine's side, causing it to stop firing its beam. Adora's beam struck Multi-Bot directly in the optic, creating an energy pulse that sent it flying.

Multi-Bot stood up, reexamining its surroundings. The cut that Connie had made vanished as if it had never been there. However, a crack on its visor, made by Adora's sword beam, did not repair. Multi-Bot seemed to realize this, as it stood still as though stunned to be damaged.

"Hey, look at that," Bow said. "I think Adora's sword can hurt it!"

"Or it's eye is its weak point!" said Steven. He hurled his shield like a discus once more, although it wasn't nearly as effective as it had been on Catra. Multi-Bot caught the shield in its hand, as it slowly looked towards the heroes.

"Uh...I think we made him mad," Amethyst said.

"Yeah, you did," said Entrapta. She pulled Catra and Scorpia aside. "Now would be a good time to take cover!"

Multi-Bot emitted another loud howl, before taking off into the air again. It sprouted a total of no less than six arms, each one bearing a laser cannon. It then opened fire. Dozens of energy pulses rained down across the landscape, tearing it apart in the process.

Steven summoned his bubble to protect those near him, while Adora transformed the Sword of Protection into a shield. Bismuth blocked some of the blasts as well, using her own body to block the shots.

"Hurrgh...any day now!" Bismuth said. Perfuma and Amethyst had both taken cover behind her.

"I've got it!" said Garnet. The fusion stepped out from behind Adora to fire her gauntlets at the machine, only to be struck by its lasers.

"Garnet!" yelled Steven. There was nothing he could do, having to hold his bubble together against the robot's assault. He, like Bismuth, was at the end of his rope.

"Just hang on a bit longer, everyone!" shouted Adora. Despite her words of encouragement, she was being pushed to her limit as well. Multi-Bot's barrage forced her down onto one knee. "Just...just keep it together!"

"Adora, get out of there!" yelled Glimmer from inside of Steven's bubble.

"I-I can't!" she yelled. "He's too strong!"

Glimmer's gaze travelled from her friend up to the robot that had them all pinned down, and finally down to her hand. "Cone on, Glimmer, just one more," she whispered to herself, clenching her fist. Slowly but surely, she was enveloped in a pink glow, before vanishing.

"Glimmer?" said Bow. The princess reappeared above Multi-Bot, putting a stop to its ceaseless barrage with a blast of glitter. Disoriented, the machine stopped firing, and Glimmer teleported back to the ground.

Bow was surprised, to say the least. "Glimmer, how...how did you do that?" he asked. "I thought you were out of magic."

"I thought I was, too," she said. "To be honest, that was supposed to be a one-way trip. But I feel like I've got a few more left in me!"

"Guys, check it out!" said Frosta. "We're glowing!" In addition to Adora's glow, the four other princesses had become luminescent as well. "Do you think we've got out powers back?"

"Only one way to find out!" said Mermista. Drawing up a long-forgotten well of water deep below the surface, Mermista launched the deluge up from beneath the bot like a geyser. It aimed its cannons to open fire once again.

"Come on, plants!" said Perfuma. "There has to be something living left here!" While she was summoning the fauna to the surface, Glimmer kept Multi-Bot busy with her hit-and-run strikes.

Before Multi-Bot could unleash another beam from its eye, Garnet's gauntlets collided with it with rocket-powered strength. Unfortunately, while it was momentarily stunned, all damage was immediately repaired.

"Got it!" shouted Perfuma. She thrust her arms to the skies, and a bough of vines followed. These vines trailed up towards Multi-Bot, ensnaring the machine and dragging it to the ground.

All six of the robot's arms morphed into blades with which to cut through the vines. Each one was severed in quick succession: the first was cut off by Connie's sword, the second by Pearl's spear, the third was torn off by Garnet, the fourth was sliced off by Bismuth after shapeshifting her hand into a blade, the fifth by Mermista's trident after being ensnared by Amethyst's whip, and the final one bashed to uselessness by Steven's shield.

"Now!" said Connie. "Get it before it regenerates!"

Adora raised her sword, preparing to fire another beam at the bot. However, Multi-Bot's sixth and final arm had already regenerated, as well as changed into a cannon which aimed at Adora. Before it could fire, a thick layer of ice covered the machine's body.

"There! Smash it!" said Frosta. Unfortunately, Multi-Bot's eye had once again begun to glow, melting the ice around its head. "Uh-oh...Adora! Look out!"

Knowing that her beam was an equal match for Multi-Bot's, Adora opted for another strategy instead. Thinking quickly, Adora threw her sword directly at the robot's eye, blade-first.

The Sword of Protection soared through the air. Multi-Bot's beam fired directly at the heroes, connecting with the sword. Rather than be slowed down or stopped by the beam, however, the sword continued to fly. The beam was cut in two by the blade, each half striking the ground to the side of the team. The Sword of Protection reached its target, becoming embedded directly in Multi-Bot's eye.

The red light from Multi-Bot's laser grew brighter and brighter, filling the entire battlefield. Everyone shielded their eyes as it reached a head, and a massive explosion shook the ground.

Eventually, the light subsided and the dust settled. Multi-Bot still stood in its place, sans a head. Its arms did not regenerate. Its head did not regrow. At long last, the broken body of the killer mechanism fell to the ground with a thud.

Adora walked over to retrieve her sword, nudging the broken bot with her toe as she got close. "We...we did it!" she said. "We did it!"

Everyone cheered at their success. "Yeah! I knew we could do it!" said Bow.

"That's how it's done, kids!" shouted Bismuth, grabbing Garnet and Pearl in a bear hug. "I knew we could do it!"

"Yes! Adventure!" said Sea Hawk.

"Uh, what exactly did you do?" asked Mermista.

"I, er, don't entirely know..." said Sea Hawk.


	20. Keldor the Undying

Chapter Twenty: Keldor the Undying

* * *

"Rrrraagh! That's it!" yelled Catra. The half-feline sprinted towards the heroes, catching Adora off-guard. The latter had shifted out of her She-Ra form, believing the battle to be over. The pair tumbled to the ground. "Give me that staff!"

Before Adora could even fight back, Catra was unceremoniously picked up by the scruff of her neck by Bismuth. "I don't think so, kitty!" she said. Catra futilly struggled against the large Gem's grip.

Adora picked herself off of the ground with a smug smile. "You know Catra, maybe this would have gone better for you if you brought more than one bot!" She held out her arms to emphasize the lack of Horde reinforcements. "I mean, really. It just seems like a rookie mistake."

"To be fair to Catra, that one's on me." Entrapta peeked up from behind a rock. "I wasn't counting on the princesses getting their powers back. But you have to admit, Multi-Bot put up a pretty good fight for a last-minute rush-job, right?"

"Not good enough!" said Frosta. "We showed that robot who's boss, right, guys?"

"Yeah we did!" said Amethyst. "So, Steven, how about you introduce us to your new friend?"

Frosta handed the staff to Steven, who took it in his hands. He looked at the powerful object: it seemed to hum with excitement now that its master's rebirth was near. The purple crystal at the tip pulsed with a dim light.

"Well? You gonna stare at it all day, or what?" asked Amethyst.

"Huh? Oh, right." Steven seemed to have been awoken from a trance. "Yeah, let's go meet Keldor. Hope he's pretty reasonable…"

"Oh, for the love of-Scorpia, get that staff, would you!?" said Catra.

The Force Captain blocked Steven's path. "Hey again!" she said cheerfully. "So, I don't suppose you'll just hand that over, huh?"

Steven held the staff behind his back. Connie stood in front of him, bearing her sword.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Scorpia made to grab for the staff, only to have Pearl's spear ricochet off of her claw. "Yow! What gives, lady?"

"Hurry to the temple, Steven!" said Pearl. "We'll meet you there!"

Steven nodded, as he and Connie ran towards the temple. Scorpia was prevented from pursuing them further when Garnet blocked her way. The crimson behemoths engaged in fisticuffs once again.

Not one to sit on the sidelines while there was fighting to be done, Catra made her escape. She used her hind claws to scratch down Bismuth's face, causing the Gem to drop her.

"Ack! You little-get back here!" Bismuth gave chase, but Catra was far too agile to catch her. Unfortunately for the latter, Pearl was able to block her path.

"Oh, come on, you again!?" said Catra.

Adora lifted up her sword again. "Looks like it's time to even these odds. Or, well, make them less even for Catra. "For the honor of-urk!" Before she could invoke the name of Grayskull, Scorpia had stung the heroine. Adora collapsed.

"Whoops, didn't mean to do that!" Scorpia said, still fighting with Garnet. "That was sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell."

Steven and Connie ascended the steps towards the temple. As the pair approached the entrance, something snagged on Steven's leg, stopping him in his tracks: Entrapta had shown up to reclaim 'her' staff.

"Steven, hang on!" she said. "Don't just throw that staff away like this! Give it to me! Just think of all the potential!"

"I can't give it to you! You'll just use it to take over the world!" Steven tried to kick Entrapta's hair off him.

"Okay, yeah, but think of the possibilities!" said Entrapta. "This staff is one of the most powerful First Ones artifacts I've ever encountered! Imagine what could be done with it!"

Entrapta reached forward with her hair again, trying to snatchthe staff away. Just before she could reach it, Connie leapt in front of Steven, severing the tip of her follicles. "The only possibility _I_ see is the one where you back off!" she yelled. Entrapta backed off. Steven entered the temple, and Connie followed, keeping her sword pointed towards Entrapta.

The interior of the temple was even darker than the dim light of the planet's surface. What little light there was seeped in from a large crack in the ceiling. The air was choked with dust particles, making it even harder to see. The only reason the two could see at all was the Staff of Keldor lighting up like a beacon.

Steven pointed the staff around, examining his surroundings. "So, uh...I won't lie, this is pretty eerie."

"Well, we made it this far," said Connie. "No sense in turning back now."

"Yeah, I guess," Steven said. The pair walked further into the decrepit temple. It was not very large, consisting only of one room, but it seemed to take far longer than it should have to reach the end. Oddly, Steven could no longer hear the battle going on outside, even though he could make it out quite clearly just a moment ago. He hadn't gone _that_ far, had he? Finally, they reached the rear wall. Steven shone the staff's light-there, seated atop a throne, was Keldor.

The eons had not been kind. His form was slumped over to the side, barely recognizable as the same figure Steven had met in his vision. Much of his skin had long since shed away, leaving him as mostly a skeleton, and what little remained had a sickening pale color, the same as his bones. He was covered in thousands of years worth of dust and cobwebs, making his purple robe appear almost grey. But the worst part by far was his face: his nose and lips had completely rotted away, leaving him with what looked not unlike a sneering grin. His eye sockets were like two deep, dark caves that had no end.

"Yikes," Steven said. "Hopefully the staff can, y'know, undo all that."

Connie nodded in agreement. "Wait a minute, I just realized something," she said. "Do we even know how to use the staff? How are we supposed to bring him back?"

_Snap!_

The pair jumped as Keldor's corpse's arm stretched out quick as a bullet. With the body's hand outstretched, Steven felt an invisible force begin to tug on the staff. As it grew in intensity, Steven let go. The staff immediately flew into its master's waiting grasp.

"I, uh, guess that answers that…" Connie said softly.

What followed next was not a pleasant sight. Before their very eyes, Keldor's dead body began to move. Dust and cobwebs fell to the ground as he stood. The temple was filled with nauseating cracking noises as he broke free from the rigor mortis that had held him. Keldor opened his jaw as if to speak, but he instead doubled over in pain. He then retched and coughed up all of the dust that had settled inside of him over the years. Slowly but surely, the coughing turned to rasping laughter as Keldor's long-rotted vocal cords reanimated.

"I have...awoken," Keldor spoke slowly and methodically, in a deep and croaking voice the likes of which should never have come from any natural being's mouth. Keldor, however, was anything but natural. "You have...awoken me."

Steven and Connie looked at each other, both quite unnerved by this display. "Y-yeah, we did," said Steven. "Keldor? You remember me, right? It's Steven."

Keldor laughed quietly, sending a chill down both Steven and Connie's spines. "Yes, I remember you, boy." He stepped down the stairs leading from his throne towards the children. His hands, the pointed tips of bone making them appear as claws, tightly grasped into his staff. "Because of your actions, young one, I have managed to tear my way from the nothingness of death back into my flesh-vessel. I applaud your efforts...as well as your naivete."

Steven's heart sank. "Aw man, I was _really_ you weren't a bad guy."

"How noble of you," the animate corpse continued. "I suppose you deserve a reward for your efforts." Keldor lifted his staff above his head. The crystal glowed a bright purple, illuminating the room. "Hold still, so I may cleanse you of your burdens."

* * *

"Catra, just stop fighting for once!" shouted Bow. "Look, we want to get home just as much as you do."

Catra caught one of Bow's arrows in midflight, throwing it aside before a net exploded from the tip. "Oh, that's a laugh! You practically have it made on Earth! Meanwhile, Hordak's kicking me out unless I bring back his ace in the hole!"

"Entrapta?" asked Bow.

"Are you seriously this thick?" said Catra in exasperation. "The staff! Hordak isn't letting me back into the Fright Zone unless I bring back the staff!"

"You know what? Forget this, I'm just going for it!" said Scorpia. She shoved Garnet aside, making a break for the temple entrance.

Just then, a voice none of the combatants expected to hear called out. "Wait! Guys, wait!"

"Did...did anyone else hear that?" asked Perfuma.

Amethyst looked around for the source of the noise. "It kind of sounded like…"

"Peridot!" said Pearl.

Indeed, Peridot descended from the skies, being carried by Lapis. As the pair of Gems approached the others, Peridot dropped the ground. "Where's Steven? Where's the Staff!?"

"Uh, what are you doing here, short stuff?" said Bismuth. "I thought the two of you were stayin' back home."

"We came to warn you!" said Peridot. The green Gem was clearly agitated about something. "Where'd Steven take that staff? Listen, we _can't_ let him give it back to Keldor!"

"But that's like, the entire reason we came here in the first place," Mermista said. "Why did we even come here, then?"

"Peridot, why not?" said Garnet.

"I remembered where I heard his name from!" Peridot said. "I saw footage from when Homeworld tried to colonize this place! Keldor's not a heroic sorcerer, he's a necromancer!"

"What!?" said Glimmer. "What are you talking about?"

"_What do you _think_ I'm talking about, Pinky!?_" Peridot practically screeched. "Quick, where's the staff!?"

Silently, everyone turned their heads towards the temple.

"Oh, come on!" yelled Peridot. "Quick! Stop Steven before he-"

The temple exploded. Cracks appeared in the walls, out of which shone bright purple light, before it was blown apart. The force sent a powerful gust towards friend and foe alike, pushing them back. Out of the explosion flew Steven and Connie, protected by a pink bubble. The pair landed amongst the group, where the bubble vanished.

"Steven!" Garnet and the other Gems rushed to his and Connie's side. "What happened?" Wordlessly, Steven pointed to the sky above where the temple had been.

Keldor levitated above the wreckage, staring down at all present. As though grabbed by an invisible hand, every single person, Gem, human, and other organic, felt consumed by a crippling, choking fear. Most of the Gems and princesses bore their weapons. Both Perfuma and Scorpia gasped and covered their mouths. Frosta clung to Glimmer. Peridot hid behind Lapis.

"Like a funeral procession, all the princesses' men have arrived to see me off," said Keldor. "But today shall not be the day of my death, oh, no. Today shall be the day of my ascension!"

Nobody could muster up the will to speak. Something about Keldor inspired such a feeling of dread, it felt as though the only way to survive his presence was to draw as little attention to yourself as possible. Adora, however, had other plans.

"Oh yeah, you undead freak?" Adora said weakly. She trudged forward, still sluggish from Scorpia's venom. "Why don't you crawl back into your tomb before I make you double-dead!"

Keldor slowly turned his head towards her, sapping all of her bluster in an instant. In the very center of his eye sockets were a pair of miniscule purple lights, very hard to see. The closer she looked at them, the more weightless she felt. They seemed to be drawing her in.

"She-Ra, Princess of Power," said Keldor. "What an underwhelming surprise. This is the child chosen to wield such a great weapon?"

Adora was able to shake off Keldor's influence. She charged him, holding her sword above her head. "This great weapon's going straight through your-"

Keldor slammed his staff onto the ground. A tremendous shockwave emanated from the point of impact, sending Adora, as well as everyone else, flying backwards.

"Simply pitiful," he remarked. "Is this truly what passes for Eternian resistance these days? Or have you perhaps sworn your allegiance to White Diamond instead?"

"Neither!" Keldor's attention was drawn to Steven. "We are the Crystal Gems! And we'll always-"

Keldor took off into the air once more, unleashing an enormous beam of energy from his staff directly at Steven. The half-Gem summoned his shield just in time, but was pushed back by the sheer force of Keldor's attack. So strong was the beam that when it dissipated, Steven collapsed from exertion.

"Curious," Keldor mused. "You have not simply returned me to life. You have given me far greater gifts than I could have ever hoped to possess!" Keldor began drawing energy from the surrounding area into his staff. "I am no longer a mere disciple of Skeletor...I _am_ Skeletor!" The energy above him reached its peak. "And I shall eclipse all."

The beam tore through all in its path. Hero and villain alike were forced to dive for cover as it ripped the very earth asunder. Steven, too drained from the first attack, could not move, let alone summon his shield.

Someone, Steven was not immediately sure who, picked him up from behind. As he was thrown out from the laser's path, he saw that it was Lapis. Moments later, her form was consumed by the beam.

"LAPIS!" Steven heard Peridot shout. He was so weakened that he could barely remain conscious.

The beam continued down the landscape towards the repaired handship. When the two met, the ship erupted in a pillar of flames, sending shrapnel across the landscape.

In the back of his mind, Steven could see the Crystal Gems running over to him, while Peridot ran over to Lapis. He soon fell into unconsciousness.

Adora tried to stand, but Scorpia's venom combined with the recent blow left her too weak to stand. "Adora, are you alright?" said Bow.

"I-I'll be fine," she said. She looked into the sky, seeing nothing.

Meanwhile, the Horde trio had run for the warp pad, knowing it to be the only way off of the planet. "Come on, let's go, let's go!" yelled Catra to her underlings, who were lagging behind. "We have to get out of here before Keldor-"

She stopped herself, both in body and in tongue. The dark sorcerer stood ahead of them atop the warp pad.

"My name...is...Skeletor," he said, raising his staff into the air. "You would do well to remember it."

Skeletor brought the staff down. Catra shielded her face as splintered pieces of warp pad were thrown asunder. Catra herself was thrown backwards from the impact as well.

Keldor examined his surroundings. Those who had not already been broken were tending to their fallen allies. Those who were not doing that were too afraid to approach. "Pitiful," he said. "Utterly _pitiful_. I would have hoped my first opponents upon my return to the physical world would have posed more of a challenge." He turned around and began to walk away. "No matter. I will simply have to find a more worthy foe to commemorate the cleansing of the universe."

With a wave of his staff, a portal opened before him. He gave the group one final look. "The era of Skeletor is nigh. Make peace with yourselves, for until all is silent, there will be peace no longer." He vanished into the portal, which closed behind him, leaving only silence behind him.

The ship was destroyed, as was the warp pad. All involved were now stranded on a lifeless planet, light years away from anyone who could possibly help. And Skeletor had been unleashed upon the universe. Connie stared out into the stars.

"_Now_ what are we supposed to do?" she asked.


End file.
